The British Columbia government is calling on the federal government to raise its 2025 allocation under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), citing urgent workforce needs. The province reports that it met its 2024 target of 8,000 workers and is now requesting an increase to 11,000 nominees for 2025. However, Ottawa has reduced B.C.’s allocation to just 4,000, a move the province says is undermining its ability to meet labour market demands. The B.C. government argues that a higher quota would enable the province to process the majority of pending applications and accept approximately 1,100

Police in Surrey are investigating a hit-and-run collision that killed one child and sent two other children to hospital. Police say the incident happened at about 4:11 p-m on Sunday in the Fraser Heights neighbourhood where three children had been hit by a vehicle. A six-year-old girl died, and a seven-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy were both taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say the driver of the vehicle was arrested and remains in custody as the investigation continues. Police say the cause of the collision remains unknown, but they believe alcohol may b

British Columbia's main opposition party, the BC Conservatives, has sharply criticized the Eby government over its growing budget deficit and is demanding clearer accounting. The party raised concerns about the size of the deficit and the potential cuts to programs following a loss of nearly $3 billion in carbon tax revenue. John Rustad, leader of the BC Conservatives, called on the government to provide clarity regarding which programs will be affected by the deficit. Rustad pointed out that under Premier David Rustad, the province had a $6 billion surplus, which has now turned into an $11 b

British Columbia is ending a program that sent cancer patients to the United States for treatment, saying provincial wait times have improved enough that they no longer have to rely on clinics south of the border. A statement from the Ministry of Health says as of the end of February, about 93 per cent of patients are waiting less than four weeks to start their radiation treatment, an improvement from spring 2023, when that number was only 69 per cent. It says the national benchmark is 90 per cent. The province began funding as many as 50 radiation patients each week in May 2023 for treatment

There is a window of relief for British Columbia farmers from the devastating waves of avian flu, leaving them to assess the toll of outbreaks spanning more than three years that saw millions of birds culled at hundreds of farms. Farmers and scientists also worry what the next migration of wild birds will bring this year. Some farmers moved their operations outside British Columbia's Fraser Valley or have exited the industry altogether since the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu began circulating, said farmer Ray Nickel. Nickel, who operates a farm in Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley, was forced

British Columbia Employment Minister Diana Gibson has defended her government's stance on the employment figures released by Statistics Canada. While acknowledging that the national job trend declined in March, she pointed out that B.C. added 5,700 jobs during the same period. Gibson highlighted that B.C. has seen an increase of 35,400 full-time jobs so far this year, the highest among all provinces. However, she stressed the importance of continuing to support the private sector, which is facing challenges due to the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Gibson also noted that B.C

Premier David Eby is meeting with forestry leaders in Prince George today to discuss strategies to protect British Columbia's largest export industry from potential tariffs. Eby has raised concerns that President Donald Trump may impose additional tariffs on top of the existing 14.5 percent duty on B.C. softwood lumber. B.C.'s forestry sector is a critical component of the province's economy, contributing $17.4 billion to the GDP and providing thousands of jobs. The U.S. has long accused B.C. of subsidizing its lumber industry. According to the Business Council of B.C., if Trump imposes an ad

BC Premier David Eby announced today at a news conference in Victoria that he will meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss President Donald Trump's tariff threats against the province's softwood sector. Eby revealed that he will also meet with forest industry leaders in Prince George tomorrow. His primary concern is that Trump's rhetoric about targeting BC's softwood industry could result in job losses on both sides of the border. Notably, Eby made strong remarks about Trump, emphasizing that the longstanding relationship between the US and Canada would not be undermined by the wrong

B.C.'s David Eby government is facing a significant setback. Global credit rating agencies S&P and Moody’s both downgraded British Columbia's credit rating on the same day. The agencies cited the province's growing deficit and lack of a clear plan to exit its fiscal crisis. Moody’s projected that British Columbia's deficit will widen to $14.3 billion this year, which is 31 percent higher than the estimate made by Finance Minister Brenda Bailey in last month's budget and 57 percent higher than the most recent estimate of last year's deficit. Moody’s stated that B.C.'s credit outlook