The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales were up 53.4 per cent in the final month of 2020 compared with December 2019, hitting a new record for the month.The board says 3,093 homes were sold in December, up from 2,016 in December 2019 and slightly more than the 3,064 homes sold in November.Vancouver real estate agents sold 1,026 detached homes, a 71.3 jump from December 2019.The board says the composite home price in Vancouver ended the year at $1,047,400, up 5.4 percent from the same time last year.Board chair Colette Gerber says the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major cause

British Columbia's top doctor says immunizations are expected to be ramped up in the coming weeks as Health Canada approves more COVID-19 vaccines, but a major challenge will be for people to ensure they get immunized. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the aim is to vaccinate about 150,000 people by the end of February, with priority given to residents and staff of long-term care homes as well as First Nations communities. For the rest of the population, she says those over the age of 80 will be next in line for vaccinations, which will then be administered based on descending five-year age groupings. Dr

A 64 year old man has died after something went wrong during a scuba-diving outing off West Vancouver. Police in West Vancouver say the man was pulled unconscious from the water near Whytecliffe Park last Wednesday. Bystanders and paramedics tried to revive the person but could not be revived. The coroners service is assisting with the investigation but the death is not considered suspicious. The man's name has not been released.

RCMP in Prince George say they deployed "significant resources" to investigate the death of a man on New Year's Day. Mounties say in a news release they received a report of a homicide at a home in the early hours of January 1st. They say officers found a 50 year old man dead and secured the scene. Police say they believe the death was targeted. RCMP's Serious Crime Unit is leading the investigation.

British Columbia's police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, is investigating after a man was injured during an armed standoff with police in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The Vancouver Police Department says in a statement the incident occurred when a 32 year old man exited a suite with a firearm during a prolonged standoff.The standoff began Saturday night. They say a member of the Emergency Response Team fired at the man and he was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspect and another man are now in police custody facing firearm-related charges.

More than 50 COVID-19 cases have been reported at Waterford Independent Living Community in Tsawwassen. The independent living community announced the outbreak on Dec. 26 after one resident tested positive. The outbreak has grown to 51 residents and six staff members. Two outbreaks declared over in Fraser Health region Fraser Health has declared COVID-19 outbreaks over at two long-term care facilities in the region. The health authority says there are no longer any COVID-19 cases at Holyrood Manor in Maple Ridge or The Residence at Clayton Heights in Surrey. It also says that it remains critic

British Columbia's interim Liberal Leader Shirley Bond says the coming year promises to be one of reflection, renewal and rebuilding. The Liberals are looking to elect a new leader in 2021 following the resignation of Andrew Wilkinson after the party's election defeat in October. She says Liberals need to ask hard questions about the election result that saw the party lose seats to the NDP in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, an area once considered a BC Liberal stronghold. Bond says a review of what went wrong during the election and plans for the future direction of the party must be a

BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau says she plans to continue working across party lines in 2021 despite the turmoil of October's provincial election. In a year-end interview, Furstenau says she believes political collaboration builds bridges that will help people most in the province. She says she's still disappointed Premier John Horgan called a snap election a year ahead of schedule, but the new year will see the Greens looking to work with all politicians in the legislature. Furstenau says the Greens were committed to ensuring the minority government agreement with the New Democrats would ho

Premier John Horgan says economic recovery and health-care reforms are his New Democrat government's priorities for 2021. He says the COVID-19 pandemic has tested him personally as it has the people of British Columbia. Horgan says getting the economy moving next year will be the main goal of the budget in April, despite the recent forecast of a 13.6 billion dollar deficit. There have been almost 900 deaths due to COVID-19 in the province and Horgan says the government is planning health-care reforms that focus on BC's elderly, the hardest hit by the pandemic. The premier says his government