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

The meeting between Indian Army's 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart got over after around 11 hours, sources said."Today's meeting between the Corps Commander-level officers of India and China is over. The meeting which started at 11:30 am went on for around 11 hours. More details awaited," sources said.The meeting started at around 11:30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said.This is the second meeting between the two co

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,

British Columbia's top doctor is warning people not to let their guard down against COVID-19 as the province prepares to allow more travel this summer. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the premier is expected to announce later this week when the province will move into the third phase of its restart plan, which allows overnight camping and the opening of hotels, resorts and RV parks. She says travellers have to exercise caution, be respectful of the communities they plan to visit and take the same care they do at home to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Henry says trav

The World Health Organization says the record levels of new daily COVID-19 cases are due to the pandemic peaking in a number of large countries all at once. Emergencies chief Doctor Michael Ryan says that the numbers are increasing because the epidemic is developing in a number of populous countries at the same time. Some countries have attributed their increased caseload to more testing, including India and the US, but Ryan dismisses that explanation. More than 100,000 COVID-19 cases in FloridaHealth officials are reporting more than 100,000 people in Florida have been diagnosed with COVID-1

The City of Surrey and a group in Burnaby are both reporting successful initiatives to increase the amount of personal protective equipment available to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statement from Surrey says 16 of its local manufacturers have re-tooled since the virus hit in March and have now reached four million dollars in sales of protective equipment, also known as PPE. Surrey says over the last several months, local companies have supplied a range of equipment, including 100,000 face shields and 300,000 litres of disinfectant and hand sanitizers to Canadian firms. B

A man has died after rescuing his daughter during a visit to a waterfall near Kelowna, B.C., on Father's Day. The RCMP say emergency crews rushed to the Mill Creek waterfall area after receiving a 911 call reporting a drowning. Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy says police learned the victim had been at the waterfall with his family and he went into the water to help his daughter after she slipped in. She says the daughter was able to get to shore. Noseworthy says bystanders tried to save the man with CPR. Paramedics took over when they arrived but despite their efforts, she says the 46-year-old man fr

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