To overcome the housing crisis in Canada, the government may relax immigration for skilled workers.Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Tuesday that Canada is going to face troubles getting homes built if it doesn’t address the severe labour shortage facing the construction industry. He said there needs to be a focus on training and attracting workers.The Housing Minister said he is working with Minister Miller on immigration to bring in skilled workers who are hard to find in Canada in the short term to build homes. Sean Fraser also announced that the federal government will invest $71 million

House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus is apologizing after a video message he recorded in thanks of the departing interim leader of the Ontario Liberal party, John Fraser, was played at the party's leadership convention. Now he's facing calls to step down from the Bloc Quebecois and Conservatives. His apology came after Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer gave notice that he planned to raise a question of privilege, given the Speaker is supposed to play an explicitly non-partisan role At Queen's Park on Monday, Fraser defended the message as personal and non-partisan. Fergus also defe

The Royal Bank of Canada is facing a 7.4-million-dollar penalty for non-compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada handed down the penalty, saying the R-B-C's violations include failing to submit suspicious transaction reports where there were reasonable grounds to suspect ties to money laundering. Fintrac tries to pinpoint money linked to illegal activities by electronically sifting through millions of pieces of information each year from banks, insurance companies, money service businesses and o

Less snowfall in Edmonton in November saved the city $5 million in snow removal costs. According to experts, November this year has seen less snow and it has been the hottest and driest month.This has also reduced road maintenance work, with 15,000 potholes repaired till last week compared to 6,20,000 potholes during the same period last year. Also, crew workers cleared 3,000 bags of garbage and 60,000 kg of waste from an empty homeless camp last year. City snow-and-ice removal work usually includes some contracted services, which have yet to be called upon this season, leading to savings. Acc

New report from Statistics Canada suggests the problem of sexual misconduct in the military is getting worse. The survey suggests 3.5 per cent of Canadian Armed Forces personnel say they were sexually assaulted by another military member in 2022. That is a significant increase from the 1.6 per cent reported in the same survey in 2018, and 1.7 per cent in 2016. Statistics Canada defines sexual assault as sexual attacks, unwanted touching, and sexual activity when the victim was unable to consent. Victims of these assaults were more likely to be women, the survey found, and they were disproporti

Angus Reid conducted a survey on the performance of Canadian premiers. According to this survey, Newly minted Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew tops the poll with an approval rating of 57 per cent and is Canada's most popular premier. BC Premier David Eb is sixth in a survey of 9 premiers. His approval rating has been recorded at 46%. Currently, Quebec's Francois Legault is ending the year as the country's most unpopular premier, with an approval rating of just 31 per cent. The Angus Reid poll suggests New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is in eighth place, with a 33 per cent approval rating. Prince

The New Democrats are calling for Ottawa to create special immigration measures to help get Canadians' extended family members out of the Gaza Strip, as it has during other crises in recent years. Several Canadians whose relatives are struggling to survive in Gaza say they're losing faith that the federal government will step into to save the lives of their loved ones. NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan says Canada has created special rules for Syrian refugees, Afghans and Ukrainians in recent years, and she is calling on the government to do the same for Palestinians. Canada has brought approx

The Bank of Canada's interest rate announcement this week is going to be quite important for Canadians. This will be the last announcement of the year. Economists believe that the central bank could end the year on December 6 keeping interest rates at 5 percent, the same level since July. Governor Tiff McCallum has said interest rate hikes are likely if inflation doesn't ease, but recent economic and labor market data suggest further interest rate hikes are unlikely. The Canadian economy shrank by 1.1 percent on an annualized basis in the third quarter of the year. The unemployment rate has in

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the controlled release or burning of methane from oil and gas production sites will be almost entirely barred by 2030. Guilbeault is in Dubai for the annual global climate talks, which this year are known as COP28. He is publishing draft regulations today that aim to cut at least 75 per cent of methane emissions from the oil-and-gas sector by 2030, compared to what was emitted in 2012. A federal review found in 2021 that Canada was on track to hit its current regulatory target of cutting methane output from oil and gas by 40 to 45 per cent by 2025,