Potential disruption to British Columbia's HandyDART transit service this morning was averted after workers suspended job action to vote on a final contract offer, but strike action remains a possibility. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 says it will give a 72-hour strike notice if the membership votes down the latest offer by Transdev Canada. Local 1724 president Joe McCann called the suspension of all job action "a gesture of goodwill" after what the union described as "months of bargaining and escalating job actions" ranging from uniform refusals to an overtime ban. McCann says the vote

The maximum allowable rent increase in British Columbia next year will be 3 per cent, down from the current 3.5 per cent. The Housing Ministry says the new amount, taking effect on Jan. 1, is tied to inflation, and comes after increases were kept "well below inflation" in 2023 and 2024. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says in a news release that keying rent rises to inflation "saves renters hundreds of dollars" compared to the previous government's policy of allowing increases of inflation plus 2 per cent. He says the inflation-indexed rent cap protects tenants against unfair rent hikes while let

Heavy rain in parts of British Columbia over the weekend has lowered wildfire activity in the southern part of the province, but firefighters say strong winds are creating some tree hazards for crews. The BC Wildfire Service says in its latest update that the number of active blazes in the province has fallen to around 311, continuing a downward trend where about 240 fires were burning entering the weekend. The wildfire service says while much of the southern part of B.C. received rain and some parts had heavy precipitation, it was accompanied by winds gusting up to 102 kilometres per hour. Th

Mounties say that officers investigating a break and enter in Prince George, B.C., stumbled on what turned out to be the biggest haul of illicit drugs in the city's history. RCMP say the officers were responding to the break-and-enter report on Wednesday when they noticed a large number of counterfeit cigarettes on the premises. They say a search warrant was obtained, and investigators seized nearly 40 kilograms of illicit drugs, including suspected fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as about 120,000 counterfeit cigarettes and more than $500,000 in cash. Officers also seized more t

Dozens of new shelter beds are opening for people living on the streets in Victoria, including at an encampment where police escorts have been required for emergency responders. A statement from the Housing Ministry says that up to 72 new beds will be made available for people living on Pandora Avenue and elsewhere. It says BC Housing is funding up to 40 new spaces at shelters run by Our Place Society as well as 32 at a shelter operated by The Salvation Army. Victoria Police last month announced that firefighters and paramedics would only attend the 900 block of Pandora Avenue with a police es

Police in North Vancouver, B.C., say homicide investigators have been called in after two women died from falling off the balcony of an apartment building. RCMP say officers responded to reports that two people who had fallen from the building on Esplanade Avenue in the city's Shipyards area at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. The two women were initially found suffering from injuries and police say they were later pronounced dead despite efforts by emergency personnel to save them. The Mounties say the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called and will be working with the serious crime unit at

The Calcite Creek fire in British Columbia's southern Interior is no longer considered a "wildfire of note," leaving three such blazes throughout the province. The BC Wildfire Service says two of those fires are classified as "being held," meaning they're expected to stay within their current or predetermined perimeters. That leaves the 1.8-square-kilometre Corya Creek blaze in the Northwest Fire Centre as the only wildfire of note continuing to burn out of control in the province, as the 40-square-kilometre Komonko Creek wildfire in southeastern B.C. has also lost the "wildfire of note" desig

Premier David Eby says the province and University of British Columbia will partner to create housing for more than 1,500 students at the institution's Vancouver campus. He says funding will involve $300 million from the province and $260 million from the university. The 1,508-bed project will include five buildings ranging from eight to 18 storeys. Construction is slated to start in the fall of 2026 with spaces opening for students in 2028. Eby says the student housing project is part of the government's target of building 12,000 student beds by 2028. He says the project is also part of his g

A Vancouver-based film company and its drone operator have been fined a total of $30,000 for operating a drone too close to northern resident killer whales. A statement from Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the fines follow an investigation by the department's whale protection unit. It says River Road Films pleaded guilty in July to unlawfully capturing footage by operating too close to a pod of whales "beach rubbing" on Vancouver Island. The department says beach rubbing is a "unique quirk" of the northern residents, which enter shallow waters near the shore, then brush against smooth pebbles