Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a federal wage subsidy for employees in businesses hit hard by COVID-19 will last at least until the end of August. The subsidy was set to expire in the first week of June, only a few weeks after the first payments rolled out. Trudeau says the idea is to give employers more runway and confidence to resume operations slowly if they have to. Trudeau also says the government will make adjustments to the program, including changes to the threshold for how much qualifying companies' revenues must have declined, to ensure employers can access the help as business k

International students who would have started their courses in fall this year but are unable to reach Canada due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, can start their studies online from their home country. Under normal circumstances, any time spent in the home country during course duration is deducted from the eligibility period for Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP). CIC announced yesterday that up to 50% of the course can be completed from home country, and that time will not be deducted from the PGWPP eligibility period. This would mean that students can directly apply for work pe

The Canadian Real Estate Association says national home sales fell by more than half in April as the COVID-19 outbreak put a chill on market activity.The association says April home sales were down 57.6 per cent from a year earlier, and down 56.8 per cent on a month-over-month basis, posting the lowest volume for the month since 1984.Activity was down 66.2 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area, 57.9 per cent in Greater Vancouver, 51.5 per cent in Ottawa, and 42 per cent in Winnipeg.Nationally, new listings were down 55.7 per cent from March to April, but inventory levels jumped to 9.2 months i

There are 73,401 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 40,724 confirmed (including 3,351 deaths, 10,829 resolved) Ontario: 21,494 confirmed (including 1,798 deaths, 16,204 resolved) Alberta: 6,457 confirmed (including 121 deaths, 5,205 resolved) British Columbia: 2,392 confirmed (including 135 deaths, 1,885 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,026 confirmed (including 51 deaths, 909 resolved) Saskatchewan: 582 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 398 resolved) Manitoba: 278 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 252 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 24

Correctional Service Canada reports 343 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Almost all have occurred in two Quebec institutions and one in British Columbia. Hardest hit has been the Federal Training Centre in Laval, Que., with 148. The Mission Medium Institution in B.C. has had 120 cases of COVID-19. Two inmates have died. At least 88 guards have been infected.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the government will not cancel important ceremonies for First Nations peoples in the face of COVID-19. He says banning of such ceremonies in the past has been a dark stain on Canada's history. 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves As of May 13, there have been 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves in Canada. Of those, two people have died and 63 per cent have recovered. Chief medical officer of Indigenous Services Canada Dr. Tom Wong says the fatality rate is so far less than the rest of Canada. But numbers a

The Quebec government is putting off reopening schools in the Montreal area until August or September.Premier Francois Legault says public health conditions for reopening haven't been met in Montreal, which is the COVID-19 epicentre of the province.The Montreal area had initially been slated to reopen schools, daycares and businesses on May 25, but now daycare in the region will only reopen June 1 at the earliest while no firm decision has been taken on retail businesses.Authorities reported an additional 793 new cases of COVID-19 and 131 new deaths today.

Ottawa has announced $469 million in federal support for fish harvesters who have been ineligible for other aid initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced the support, which will come in the form of an industry-specific benefit and a grant.The Fish Harvester Benefit, structured similarly to the previously announced federal wage subsidy, offers income support covering 75 per cent of losses for harvesters losing 25 per cent or more of their income this year.The Fish Harvester Grant is a sector-specific grant similar to the Canada Emergency Business Acc

The Bank of Canada says there are signs in the country's financial markets that suggest concern about the ability of companies to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis.The central bank has spent the last two months making a flurry of policy decisions that has seen it slash its target interest rate and embark on an unprecedented bond-buying program to ease the flow of credit.The report suggests these measures have helped ease liquidity strains and provide easy access to short-term credit for companies and households.But it is warning this morning that a cash-flow problem for businesses seeing sh