The Canada Revenue Agency says 185 employees have been fired to date for claiming a federal COVID-19 benefit when they were not eligible for it. That's an increase of 65 since the CRA last updated the public on its review in September. The CRA is reviewing approximately 600 cases in which current employees received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit or CERB during the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefit was worth $2,000 a month to Canadians whose jobs were lost or downgraded as a result of public-health restrictions. The CRA says that just because someone was employed by the agency, that does

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that there has been a significant change in India's stance with Canada after the allegations of a conspiracy to kill a Sikh leader were exposed in America. In an interview, Trudeau said that with the US accusations, Modi feels a change in the government's tone. And perhaps India has now realized that it cannot go aggressively. P. M. Trudeau's comments come at a time when India is cooperating with the US in the investigation and has said that it is also ready to investigate Canada's allegations if any concrete evidence is provided in this regard. Let it be k

McGill University says it will offer a $3,000 annual award to new undergraduate students from other provinces to offset a tuition hike imposed by the provincial government. The university says roughly 80 per cent of Canadian undergraduate students who apply to the university would be eligible for the award, beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. The new Canada Award will be guaranteed for up to four years of study as the university tries to maintain enrollment in the face of the province's plan to increase tuition for out-of-province students to $12,000 per year from from $8,992. McGill Unive

The Canadian Transportation Agency says it's issued a $97,500 penalty to Air Canada for violating the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations. The penalty of $97,500 is for several violations of the regulations. The agency says that on August 30, Air Canada failed to assist a wheelchair user to disembark its plane. The passenger, who has spastic cerebral palsy and can't move his legs, was forced to disembark on his own. As well, the CTA says Air Canada failed to ensure that its personnel periodically checked in on the passenger while he was waiting in the terminal.

Prince Edward Island signed a $94-million deal with the federal government to fund improvements to the province's health-care system.This makes P.E.I the second province to come to an agreement with Ottawa after British Columbia signed a similar one in October.The bilateral deals are part of a $196-billion, 10-year national health accord Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered to premiers in February.On their end, provinces and territories are expected to commit to massive upgrades to digital medical records and thecollection of health-care data, as well as being held to account for meeting targ

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been chosen as The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year for 2023.Just over one-quarter of the editors who took part in the annual survey picked Poilievre, the sharp-tongued politician who has been leading the Conservative party since his whopping first-ballot victory last year. The Opposition leader has since been helping his party to rise in the polls with a laser like focus on the housing shortage and cost-of-living crisis felt by Canadians. He has revived the debate over the federal carbon price with a relentless "axe the tax" campaign, claiming vi

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says regulations being finalized this week will phase out the sale of new gas or diesel powered passenger vehicles over the next 12 years. He says it also will encourage automakers to make sure there are more E-Vs available for sale in Canada at affordable prices. The Electric Vehicle Availability Standard will require automakers to ensure a minimum share of their total vehicles offered for sale in Canada are electric. That starts with 20 per cent in 2026. After that, the proportion of EVs has to get bigger each year until it hits 100 per cent in 2035

The government's controversial Online News Act has come into effect from December 19, i.e. today, amid a ban on news by Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta in Canada. The law mandates that tech companies pay news outlets in exchange for local news. The legislation is supposed to help Canada's struggling journalism industry as digital platforms have been earning the bulk of online advertising until now and many local news outlets are closing each year due to advertising losses. According to the government, online advertising revenue in Canada was $14 billion in 2022, with two major pla

Canada's population grew by more than 430,000 during the third quarter, marking the fastest pace of population growth in anyquarter since 1957. Statistics Canada released its population estimates as of Oct. 1, which shows Canada's population topped 40.5 million. It says country's total population growth over the first nine months of the year has already surpassed the total growth in any other full year, including the record set in 2022. The record-high population growth has been fuelled by international migration, with an increase in non-permanent residents making up most of this increase. Th