Toronto Public Health says the number of whooping cough cases are more than double the pre-pandemic average. The public health agency is reporting 99 cases in Toronto so far this year compared to the pre-pandemic five-year average of 38. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a cyclical disease that occasionally increases every two to six years in Ontario. It is a highly contagious persistent cough that’s of most concern for infants. Toronto Public Health says 41 per cent of cases are found in 10 to 14-year-olds. Last week, New Brunswick health officials said a whooping cough outbreak h

China on Tuesday accused Canada of protectionism after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's governmentimposed a 100% tariffon imports ofChinese-made electric vehicles, matching U.S. duties on Chinese-made EVs. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement the tariffs would disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains, severely impact China-Canada economic and trade ties and damage the interests of enterprises in both countries. “China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes this,” the statement read. “Canada claims it supports free trade and the multilateral trading sy

A union representing full-time McGill University law professors launched an unlimited general strike today over what it describes as the school's refusal to negotiate in good faith. Law professor Kirsten Anker says the Association of McGill Professors of Law wants to secure its first collective agreement and stop the university from challenging its right to exist. The union was certified in November 2022 by the province's labour tribunal, but that certification is being contested by the university. Anker, the union's vice-president, says the professors' main demands are around faculty governan

Housing and immigration will take centre stage today as the federal cabinet retreat in Halifax moves into its first full day of meetings. The annual end-of-summer cabinet gathering is intended to set the agenda for the fall sitting of Parliament which begins three weeks from today. The Liberals are in a make-it-or-break-it moment, following more than a year of slumping polling numbers and at most a year left before the next federal election. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to take questions from the media early this morning, something he has done far less frequently since the Libera

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will reduce the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers with stricter rules, urging employers to hire Canadian workers instead. The federal government announced today that it will refuse applications for low-wage temporary foreign workers in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher. Employers will be allowed to hire a maximum of 10 per cent of their workforce from the temporary foreign worker program, down from 20 per cent. Workers hired through the low-wage stream will be able to work a maximum of one year, down from tw

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will impose a 100-per-cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles, along with 25 per cent tariffs on aluminum and steel from China, in an effort to protect domestic manufacturing.

Traffic at Canada's two largest railways is slated to resume today as a rail work stoppage comes to an end following a Saturday decision from the federal labour board. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City shut down railways last Thursday, locking out workers and disrupting freight traffic nationwide and commuter lines in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver areas. The lockouts affected more than 9,000 railway workers amid an ongoing contract dispute between the two companies and the Teamsters union. The work stoppage came to an end just after the clock struck midnight

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will not support back-to-work legislation or any "interference" in the bargaining process after Canada's two largest railway companies locked out their employees. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract before the midnight deadline. In a statement today, Singh criticized the companies for locking out their employees and said they should be bargaining with Teamsters Canada. A spokesman for Labour Minister Steven MacKinn

A rail work stoppage has upset typical travel plans for nearly 30,000 daily commuters in Ontario and Quebec where several major transit lines have been suspended. Southern Ontario's GO Transit has halted rail service on its Milton line and at Hamilton GO Centre, sidelining around 8,100 daily customers. Exo Transit says its Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines, which serve around 21,000 daily riders in the Montreal area, are shut down. The disruption comes after Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard work