The BC government has imposed a 2-year ban on new colleges admitting international students.Provincial Minister of Post-Secondary Education Selina Robinson confirmed that no new institutions in British Columbia will be allowed to admit international students for two years.Robinson issued a statement today saying that many students are being exploited and that such schools will be regularly inspected to ensure standards are being met.Robinson added that the province is implementing minimum language requirements so that international students are better prepared before coming to BC.This step has

The head of the heli-skiing company involved in a fatal crash north of Terrace says the three victims' bodies have been recovered after nearly a week. A statement from John Forrest, president of Northern Escape Heli-Skiing, says the R-C-M-P along with Terrace Search and Rescue led the effort yesterday (Sunday). The victims of the crash last Monday have been identified as three Italians. Search and rescue personnel had said last week that poor weather was hampering the recovery efforts, and Forrest says he knows how important it has been for their families to bring their loved ones down fr

BC Premier David Eby announced on Friday that the use of cellphones in BC classrooms will soon be restricted. Eby announced this measure as part of new actions to keep kids safe and healthy from "online threats." He said that other efforts include services to remove images from the internet and legislation to hold social media companies for any harm being caused to students.

Surrey Police Board administrator Mike Serr presented 2024 provincial budget on Thursday.He said that city council has still not approved the budget for the police transition, presented to mayor and council last November.Serr added that the transition from the Surrey RCMP to the Surrey Police Service will take approximately two-and-a-half years.Overall, the Surrey Police Service is asking for $141.5 million to eventually have 785 officers on the force.The service aims at adding 180 additional police officers this year, including 135 experienced officers recruited from across the country and 45

The father of a murdered 13-year-old girl has been under police investigation for allegedly bringing a gun into a Vancouver courtroom on the day that Ibrahim Ali was convicted of the killing, the man's lawyer has told a hearing. Lawyers for Ali are refusing to show up to court for post-trial proceedings citing safety concerns about the man, who can't be named because of a publication ban on the identity of the murdered girl. McCullough and co-counsel Ben Lynskey are trying to have the father excluded from attending Ali's post-trial hearings in any way, and don't want a Mandarin court interpret

One man is dead after what police believe was a targeted shooting overnight in Metro Vancouver. Police say officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 5500 block of Kingsway in Burnaby on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. Officers found a man with serious gunshot injuries and the victim died at the scene soon after. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the case. Burnaby RCMP say the scene has been secured and they don't believe there's any further risk to the public. Investigators are seeking witnesses or dashcam video of the area around Kingsway and Denbigh Avenue around the t

Bus and SeaBus services in Metro Vancouver are set to resume this morning after the end of a 48-hour strike by supervisors that ground Coast Mountain Bus Company routes to a standstill. The union representing more than 180 transit supervisors has said they'll be back at work by 3 a.m. and Coast Mountain says it expects services to be running before the morning rush hour. A new statement from TransLink says regular bus and SeaBus service is expected to resume by 5:00 a.m., but there will be no NightBus service prior. It also noted that SkyTrain, WCE and HandyDART services are not affected and w

Police have confirmed the driver of a car that plunged off the second floor of a multi-storey parkade building at the University of British Columbia was killed in the crash. University RCMP say the male driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday after his car crashed through a concrete wall and landed at ground level. Police say extrication of the victim from his vehicle waschallenging because a portion of a concrete barrier was left hanging precariously'' above the car, and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services needed to secure the situation before accessing the driver. No one

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke's claim of a $26 million deficit on the police is being called wrong by the union.In fact, Locke had accused the city's municipal police force of a deficit of $26 million last year, while the Surrey Police Union has dismissed this allegation as baseless.It is worth noting that in BC's second largest city, a long battle is going on over the police system.The latest war of words comes after complaints that Surrey froze the salaries of new recruits in December.In a statement released yesterday by Mayor Brenda Locke, the Surrey Police Service was accused of spending out o