Canadians are facing a huge increase in property taxes this year. Toronto homeowners will see their biggest increase yet in the series as the city proposed a 10.5 per cent increase in property taxes in the budget and warned that property taxes could rise to 16.5 per cent if funding for refugee support is not forthcoming from the federal government. Meanwhile, property taxes in Montreal are going up about 5 percent this year. This is the biggest increase in the 13-year history of the city. On the other hand, the property tax in Vancouver is currently 7.5 percent after increasing by 10.7 perce

Some of the Canadian Facebook users have been offered $51 million in a class action lawsuit by Meta. The lawyer who is representing the case against the giant social media company said that this settlement proposal sent by Meta is a positive sign for other companies as well. Meta is facing lawsuits from four states over an advertising program on Facebook called Sponsored Stories that ran from 2011 to 2014. People's names and pictures were used in this program without their knowledge. Now Meta is offering $51 million to settle these lawsuits. The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by a BC woman, who

A dispute between the City of Surrey and the Surrey Police Union has escalated after the city refused to pay salaries for newly recruited officers, citing budget overruns. Union spokesperson Ryan Buehring said members were shocked to learn just before Christmas that the city would not add recruits to its payroll. “These officers joined in good faith, and to be told days before the holidays that they would not be paid is unacceptable,” Buehring told Connect Newsroom. The city confirmed it sent a letter on December 19 advising the Surrey Police Service that additional hires should not have b

Hospitals across Canada are facing a crisis due to overcrowding. According to the Canadian Medical Association, despite the tireless efforts of doctors, nurses and other providers, patients in some areas are waiting 20 hours or more for treatment. The association has requested the help of the provincial governments to deal with the situation. Kathleen Ross, president of the medical association, said that the number of patients with influenza, Covid and respiratory viruses are on the rise, while access to high-quality primary care is low and hospital emergency rooms are becoming overcrowded du

Federal public servants warned the government two years ago that large increases to immigration could affect housing affordability and services, internal documents show. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request show Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada analyzed the potential effects immigration would have on the economy, housing and services, as it prepared its immigration targets for 2023 to 2025. The deputy minister, among others, was warned in 2022 that housing construction had not kept up with the pace of population growth. "In Canada, popul

The federal Conservatives are asking the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner to probe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's vacation in Jamaica and how his staff handled the detail that he stayed for free. Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett sent a letter to Konrad von Finckenstein on Tuesday asking whether he knew Trudeau was staying at a luxury estate owned by a family friend. Barrett says the vacation is "not the equivalent of staying at a friend's home" calling it instead a gift with commercial value. The Canadian Press has not independently verified a National Post report

Police in Edmonton say they have charged three people after a toddler ingested street drugs and died in September. They say a friend of the boy's mother was taking care of him and took him for a walk near their home when she noticed he was in medical distress. Police say the mother and her friend took the 23-month-old boy to a nearby clinic, where a staff member saw he was not responsive and immediately called 911.They say he was then transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police say the medical examiner's office determined the boy accidentally ingested fentanyl and other syn

Deloitte Canada's latest forecast predicts stagnant growth in the first half of this year will give way to a return to growth in theSummer and fall. Chief economist Dawn Desjardins says the Canadian economy could enter into a technical recession -- that is --two quarters or more of negative G-D-P growth. But she doesn't believe the economy will see the deep decline or labour market rout that typically accompanies a true recession. She adds Deloitte has a pretty substantive recovery in its forecast. Deloitte Canada says momentum in the economy and the job market are poised to improve in the se

It will no longer be easy for repeat offenders to get bail in Canada, with changes to the bail system made by the government under pressure from the opposition coming into force on Thursday. Bail system Amendments to the Criminal Code have made it more difficult for repeat offenders involved in serious violent crimes to obtain bail. These amendments focus on reverse onus provisions, which mean that the accused will be held in custody before trial until he proves that his release will not endanger the public and that he will not escape. There is no risk. Courts will also need to consider the cr