The parliamentary budget officer estimates in a new report that it will cost $17.9 billion to provide eight extra weeks of payments through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The report this morning from budget officer Yves Giroux says that would bring the total cost of the benefit program to $71.3 billion. The CERB, now budgeted at $60 billion, has paid out $43.51 billion to 8.41 million people as of June 4 as demand surges past federal expectations. With the first cohort of CERB applicants set to hit the 16-week limit on the payments early next month, the Liberals have promised to increa

There are 101,637 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 54,835 confirmed (including 5,417 deaths, 23,506 resolved) Ontario: 33,637 confirmed (including 2,609 deaths, 28,933 resolved) Alberta: 7,736 confirmed (including 153 deaths, 7,041 resolved) British Columbia: 2,822 confirmed (including 169 deaths, 2,471 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,061 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 998 resolved) Saskatchewan: 751 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 643 resolved) Manitoba: 303 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 293 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths,

Canada's employment minister says the country's most recent job figures suggest that low-wage workers will go back to a job if one is available instead of remaining on federal aid.Carla Qualtrough says the growth in jobs from May gives her confidence that workers will choose to work when they get an offer and are able to do so.Statistics Canada's labour force survey for May showed that lower-wage jobs rebounded at a faster rate than the national rate as restrictions meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus started to ease.Speaking at the Senate's finance committee today, Qualtrough sa

Canada's top central banker says there will be long-term economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic as the country charts a bumpy and prolonged course to recovery.Governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank expects to see growth in the third quarter of this year as people are called back to work and households resume some of their normal activities as restrictions ease.But he warns that Canadians shouldn't expect the short and sharp economic bounce-back expected over the coming months to last.The combination of uneven reopenings across provinces and industries, the unknown course of consumer c

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rebutting Chinese officials for calling him "irresponsible" by linking the spying charges against two Canadians to the arrest in Canada of a Chinese high tech executive. He said today Chinese officials were the ones who initially linked the arrests of the Canadians to the arrest in Canada of a Huawei executive at the request of U.S. authorities. Trudeau rejected the notion of a prisoner exchange of sorts to win the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to release two Canadian men that h

Canada's roughly 250,000 federal public servants are being primed for an eventual return to their workplaces, though many are expected to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future. The preparations, which include the distribution of a 30-page guidebook, come as provinces continue easing restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 and more Canadians return to their offices and other places of employment. The vast majority of federal public servants have been working from home since mid-March, during which time many have been called upon to help roll out new support programs for Canadians af

There are 100,627 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 54,550 confirmed (including 5,375 deaths, 22,972 resolved) Ontario: 33,095 confirmed (including 2,564 deaths, 28,250 resolved) Alberta: 7,625 confirmed (including 152 deaths, 6,961 resolved) British Columbia: 2,790 confirmed (including 168 deaths, 2,444 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,061 confirmed (including 62 deaths, 998 resolved) Saskatchewan: 716 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 636 resolved) Manitoba: 298 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 293 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths,

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says securing the release of two Canadians facing spying charges in China isn't just another consular issue. She calls it a foreign policy priority for the Trudeau government. Freeland today also demanded that China reinstate consular access for both Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls word of the charges disappointing. He says Canada is doing everything it can both publicly and in back channels to put pressure on China to release the two men who've been held since December of 2018.

China has charged two detained Canadians with spying today, further escalating tensions between the two countries. Chinese prosecutors say Michael Kovrig was charged on suspicion of spying for state secrets. They say Michael Spavor was charged on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets. The charges were announced by China's highest prosecutor's office in brief social media posts. Both men have been held since December 2018 in a move seen as an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. They have been in Chinese prisons