A high volume of online applications for the British Columbia COVID-19 recovery benefit has slowed the process. Some users have reported getting an error on the site when making their application for the benefit of up to $1,000. A Finance Ministry spokeswoman says there were about 2,500 applications in the first few minutes of the site opening on Friday, but the page hasn't crashed and those applying are being urged to be patient. Finance Minister Selina Robinson has asked the public to be respectful to staff at a Service BC call centre as they help people apply for the benefit, which was pro

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is shooting back at China's criticism of efforts to build international support for freeing two detained Canadians. Champagne tells The Canadian Press he'll take no lessons from China when it comes to defending Canadian interests and standing up for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. He has led Canadian efforts to create a coalition of dozens of countries pushing China to release the two men, whom they say are being arbitrarily and unjustly imprisoned. Kovrig and Spavor were arrested two years ago this month and now face what Canada and it

British Columbia's top doctor is advising people with chronic health conditions to contact their family doctor to determine if they should get vaccinated for COVID-19. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was tested primarily on healthy people of varying ages and it's not known if it will work or is safe for those with chronic liver or kidney diseases, for example. Clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be the next one to be approved in Canada, also excluded people who are immunocompromised. Dr. Henry says 1,215 health-care workers have been vaccinated so fa

The problem-plagued Boeing 737 Max aircraft are a step closer to flying again in Canada.The government has approved changes to the planes, among them enabling pilots to disable a faulty warning system.Transport Canada says the change will help reduce pilot workload.The planes were grounded worldwide in January after two crashes, one of which killed 18 Canadians in Ethiopia.Transport Canada has been reviewing the proposed modifications, already approved in the U.S. The agency says safety plans and other changes are still needed before the planes can fly again.

B.C. reported 640 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, for a total of 44,103 since the pandemic began. Another 24 people have died, bringing the death toll to 692. The number of people who have died in B.C. because of COVID-19 has more than doubled in less than a month. The province says 362 people are hospitalized, while 91 of those are in intensive care. One new health-care facility outbreak has been declared at Sunrise of Vancouver. Among new cases 98 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 399 new cases in the Fraser Health region.

Canada's Deputy Chief Public Health Officer says he's never seen the global health community come together as it has in the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Njoo says we aren't at the end of living with COVID-19 but we are at the beginning of the end. He's urging Canadians to keep up with public health practices. "Pace of advancement and innovation has been truly remarkable" Dr. Njoo says the pace of advancement and innovation in the fight against COVID-19 has been truly remarkable. Dr. Njoo says as the Pfizer vaccine rolls out this week, they're preparing to receive and distribute the Moderna vacc

The federal government says it has signed an agreement with the United States to send a Canadian astronaut around the moon.The planned trip in 2023 is part of a broader U.S.-led effort to establish a new international space station above the lunar surface to allow for exploration of the moon and future missions to Mars.The Gateway Treaty unveiled today also calls for a second flight for a Canadian astronaut to that future space station, known as the Lunar Gateway.The government says the agreement will make Canada the second country to send an astronaut into deep space, though the trip will no

Today marks the first day of British Columbia’s provincewide COVID-19 immunizations, the most comprehensive vaccine program to ever be delivered in B.C.Over the coming days, approximately 4,000 health-care workers in British Columbia will be rolling up their sleeves to receive the first approved COVID-19 vaccine.Nisha Yunus, a 64-year old residential care aid was one of the first people in British Columbia to receive the COVID-19 immunization. Yunus has worked in the same long-term care home in the Vancouver Coastal Health region for 41 years, all in the same unit and on the same floor. The

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has signed a contract to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December. The Moderna vaccine has not yet been approved by Health Canada but Trudeau says deliveries could begin within 48 hours of that happening. Trudeau also says Canada is set to receive about 200,000 of its total early shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer next week. He says there will also be 70 sites across the country ready to administer these doses, a big jump from the 14 distribution sites in place this week. Moderna's vaccine doesn'