Universities Canada says enrolment by students from outside Canada has fallen below the cap the federal government set on international student visas this year. The immigration minister announced a cap in January as a way to quell the rapid increase in the number of international students, citing pressure on housing, health care and other services. The new policy limits the number of student visa applications the government would accept into processing, and it's expected that will result in a 35 per cent drop in the number of students in 2024 compared to last year. Universities Canada presiden

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has written to the leader of the New Democrats, urging him to force an election this fall. Poilievre's letter to Jagmeet Singh says the NDP does not have a mandate from voters to keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power for another year. He's urging Singh to vote non-confidence in the government when the House of Commons resumes in September. The NDP entered a supply and confidence deal with the Liberals in 2022, agreeing to keep the minority government in power until 2025 in exchange for movement on key priorities. Singh has highlighted social programs

The number of out-of-control wildfires continues to drop in British Columbia on the heels of a cold front bringing rain and fall-like temperatures to many areas. About 280 blazes remain active across the province with 15 per cent or just over 40 of those fires classified as burning out of control. That's down from more than 100 out-of-control fires last week. None of the current blazes are considered "wildfires of note," a designation issued when a fire is highly visible or poses a threat to people or infrastructure. B.C. government officials are set to provide an update on the wildfire and dr

Montreal's Concordia University is reporting a nearly 30 per cent drop in new registrations of out-of-province students following a tuition hike announced last year by the Quebec government. The university says enrolment of international students has dropped by 11 per cent compared to last year. The provincial government has increased tuition for out-of-province students to $12,000 from $9,000 as part of an effort to protect the French language, but Quebec's two largest English-language universities are fighting the change. McGill University says it won't have its final enrolment numbers until

A man facing terror charges for allegedly plotting an attack in Toronto along with his son came to Canada in 2018 and became a citizen just months before his arrest. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc provided a House of Commons committee with a detailed timeline of the pair's immigration file today. Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ont., and face nine terrorism charges including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. At the public safety and national security committee, LeBlanc confi

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