There is hope more Canadians will soon be able to leave the Gaza Strip, after Qatar announced a truce-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas that would bring a four-day halt in fighting in the devastating six-week war. Qatar's Foreign Ministry which had led weeks of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas said it would announce within a day when the clock will start ticking on the truce, during which 50 hostages will be released in stages in exchange for what Hamas said would be 150 Palestinians prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli government said it would extend the lull by an ad

Poultry farmers in British Columbia's Fraser Valley are reporting ``extremely high'' levels of stress as the latest avian flu outbreak puts millions of commercial birds at risk. Amanda Brittain with the BC Poultry Association says farmers are taking extra precautions, including disinfecting any vehicles travelling to and from their properties and wearing personal protective gear. She says farmers are isolating themselves from each other to avoid spreading the virus and resorting to online platforms to discuss how to handle the outbreak. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says there have bee

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he's happy to hear that Canadians can once again get electronic tourist visas to India after two months of diplomatic tensions. Word of the change came from an Indian foreign ministry official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced there were "credible allegations" that India was involved in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.The 45-year-old was shot by masked gunmen outside a Surrey, B.C., gurdwara in

India restored electronic visa services for Canadian nationals, an Indian foreign ministry official said Wednesday, two months after Canada alleged the South Asian nation was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada. The move could ease tensions between the two countries that swapped accusations and expelled each other's diplomats with India introducing a visa ban on Canadian nationals. A diplomatic spat erupted between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing

British Columbia Premier David Eby says it's "hard to understand'' why other politicians still believe in relying on the private sector to deliver affordable housing and instead it's time for governments to step up. Eby says there are proposals at the federal level to sell public land and buildings to help solve the crisis, but B.C. is doing the opposite by taking inventory of provincially and municipally owned land in order to build more homes. He told the BC Non-profit Housing Association's annual conference his government is the right one to tackle the housing crisis as the province fac

Statistics Canada says inflation fell in B-C last month as gasoline prices nudged downward countrywide. The latest data shows that BC recorded an inflation rate of 2.7 per cent in October, down from 3.3 per cent the month earlier. Vancouver and Victoria both saw their rates drop, with Vancouver's falling from 4 per cent to 3.4 per cent and Victoria's dipping half a point to 2.3 per cent. Nationally, October's cost of living slowed to 3.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis, down from 3.8 per cent in September as the price of gasoline was nearly eight per cent cheaper than it was one year ear

Edmonton's population is growing rapidly and according to a recent report from the Conference Board of Canada, 30,000 new immigrants are expected to arrive in the city this year. Last year, 33,000 new people came to the city, which was three times the number of the previous 20 years. According to the director of the Conference Board Economic Forecasting, there are several reasons behind the large number of people coming to the city. The biggest reason is that the federal government has increased the speed of immigration. In addition, Edmonton and Calgary have more reasonable housing prices a

More Canadians say they prefer the Conservative Party than the Liberal Party in a recent Angus Reid poll. The Conservatives are 14 percentage points ahead of the Liberals in the survey. The Tories led in all regions outside of Quebec, where 30 percent chose the Bloc Québécois, 29 percent supported the Liberals and 23 percent said they would vote for Pierre Poliev's Conservatives. Forty-one percent of women over the age of 54 supported Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party, while 28 percent supported the Conservatives. 2 in 5 voters said they would support whichever party considered the issue

Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to 3.1 per cent in October. Statistics Canada says the year-over-year rate was down from 3.8 per cent in September. The drop came as the price drivers paid for gasoline in the month fell nearly eight per cent from a year earlier, compared with a 7.5 per cent increase in September. Grocery prices continued to rise faster than overall inflation --up 5.4 per cent last month -- but Statistics Canada says the pace of increases continued to slow.