Quebec Premier Francois Legault is strongly recommending that Quebecers wear a mask whenever they leave home. Legault, who wore a mask as he entered his daily briefing, says the mask can help prevent the spread of illness in situations where people can't stay at least two metres apart. He announced 118 more deaths in the last 24 hours, for a total of 3,131. He said there were also 756 new cases for a total of 39,225, including 10,056 who have recovered.

Some Canadian universities say classes this fall will be offered primarily online as uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic continues.In recent days, McGill University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Ottawa and others have laid out broad plans for how they will handle the fall semester amid evolving health and safety measures.In Montreal, students at McGill will see classes delivered largely through remote platforms, while the Universite de Montreal says only a few courses or parts of courses will take place on campus.UBC says larger classes will be held online, with a s

The federal government is giving seniors a one-time, tax-free top-up payment to help manage extra costs associated with COVID-19.Seniors Minister Deb Schulte says seniors who receive old age security will get $300, and those who receive the guaranteed income supplement will receive $200.In all, the $2.5-billion measure will provide payments to 6.7 million seniors, Schulte says.She says many have faced an increase in the cost of living as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, from more for dispensing fees for medications or delivery fees for food and services.She also says their savings have taken

There are 69,981 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 38,469 confirmed (including 3,013 deaths, 9,703 resolved) Ontario: 20,546 confirmed (including 1,669 deaths, 15,131 resolved) Alberta: 6,300 confirmed (including 117 deaths, 4,659 resolved) British Columbia: 2,353 confirmed (including 130 deaths, 1,719 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,019 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 767 resolved) Saskatchewan: 568 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 363 resolved) Manitoba: 278 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 247 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 244

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will continue to push for caution in terms of lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Trudeau says leaders across the country are trying to find the right balance in terms of easing back on the lockdown and reopening the economy. But he says the sacrifices that Canadians have made over the past two months will ``all go up in smoke'' if the wrong choices are made. The comments came as schools in parts of Quebec reopened today even though the province has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, says there are about a dozen potential vaccines that officials are hoping will prevent COVID-19, though none is more promising than the others. A vaccine has been seen as critical for returning to pre-pandemic normal, with researchers in Canada and around the world scrambling to develop one as quickly as possible. Even as that work is going on, Tam says officials are also looking at how a vaccine will be rolled out to people if and when one is discovered. Health Minister Patty Hajdu says the government is also looking at ways to ensure de

The RCMP says three of the four semi-automatic weapons used by a gunman during last month's mass shooting in Nova Scotia are believed to have come from the United States. The federal force says in a news release today that only one of the guns could be traced back to a source in Canada. The Mounties are still declining to reveal the brand or the calibre of the weapons, two handguns and two rifles used during the April 18-19 rampage that killed 22 people in five communities around the province. Gabriel Wortman, who police have said didn't have a licence for the weapons, was shot and killed by

The federal government says it will provide loans and financing to the country's largest employers to help them weather the COVID-19 economic crisis. The Liberals are promising bridge financing to companies whose financial needs aren't being met by conventional credit so they can stay open and keep employees on their payrolls. The government says in a release that another goal of the financing program, aimed at companies with $300 million or more in revenues, is to avoid bankruptcies of otherwise viable firms wherever possible. Rules on access to the money will place limits on dividends, share

Quebec children have begun heading back to class today for the first time since March as the province reopens elementary schools and daycares outside the Montreal area. Quebec is the first province to open schools following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and school officials say it will be far from business as usual. Students are being met by staff wearing masks and in some cases face shields, and they are being told to follow physical-distancing rules and wash their hands frequently. Libraries, gyms and cafeterias will be closed, and children will spend most of the day at their desks