The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government has more than enough staff to process applications for economic immigrants on time.In a report released today, Yves Giroux analyzed the cost of processing applications for economic immigrants through the express entry system for five fiscal years.The report says Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has 65 per cent more staff than needed to process the 2022-23 applications on time, and has more staff than needed for all years assessed.The federal government's goal is to process 80 per cent of those applications within six mon

Canada Border Services Agency says it helped put two Montreal-based companies with alleged ties to the Russian military on a United States sanctions list.The U.S. Department of Commerce last month added CPUNTO Inc. and Electronic Network Inc. to a list of entities subject to export controls.Both companies are headquartered in the Montreal borough of St-Laurent and describe themselves online as sellers of electronic components.The export controls bar them from exporting almost any item manufactured in the U.S., including intellectual property.Canada's border services says they are working close

A Montreal elementary school teacher has pleaded guilty to several sex-related crimes involving five young girls.Dominic Blanchette today entered guilty pleas on eight counts, including sexual interference, possession of child pornography, child luring and sexual exploitation.His crimes occurred between September 2017 and May 2022, when he was arrested.Court documents say that Blanchette, 28, who taught in the city's Montreal North borough, used his influence as a teacher and basketball coach to groom and exploit a total of five girls in grades 5 and 6.The case will return to court in July for

A senior defence official says Canadian taxpayers are on the hook when it comes to fixing at least two of the Royal Canadian Navy's new Arctic patrol vessels. Defence Department deputy minister Bill Matthews says that is because the one-year warranty on those two ships has expired. The federal government is planning to buy eight Arctic patrol vessels from Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding, including six for the Navy and two for the Canadian Coast Guard. Three of the ships are finished, though Matthews told a parliamentary committee today that it will be up to Irving to fix the problems in the

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says three members of his party who met with a German politician from a far-right party will stay in caucus. Speaking to reporters today in Ottawa, Poilievre otherwise ducked questions about the recent meeting between Ontario MPs Leslyn Lewis, Dean Allison, Colin Carrie and Christine Anderson. Anderson visited Canada as part of a tour organized by supporters of last year's "Freedom Convoy" protests around Parliament Hill, which she publicly supported. Anderson is a member of European Parliament representing the Alternative for Germany party, which has been

The RCMP says it has opened an investigation into possible violations of the Security of Information Act concerning recent media reports about alleged foreign interference. In a statement to The Canadian Press, the national police force says the probe is not focused on any one security agency. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing classified Canadian Security Intelligence Service records, recently said China worked to help ensure a Liberal minority victory in the 2021 general election as well as defeat Conservative politicians considered unfriendly to Beijing. A Global News report cited anonymo

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says having an Indigenous person serve as the next commissioner of the RCMP is "an excellent idea." He made the comment in response to questions from reporters in Winnipeg today about a call from some First Nations leadership for the government to ensure the next top Mountie is Indigenous. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is set to retire from her post this month, slightly before the end of her five-year term. She was appointed in April 2018 and led the force during a chaotic few years that included the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history, along with

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her Chinese counterpart had a testy exchange over allegations that Beijing's envoys may be interfering in Canadian matters. Joly spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during a G20 meeting in New Delhi this week, telling him Canada will not accept China meddling in Canadian democracy. The Liberal government has been under pressure to explain what it's doing about alleged interference in the last two federal elections, which came to light in recent media stories based on leaks from security sources. Canadian officials who were there for the excha

The federal government has stopped shipping rapid COVID-19 antigen tests to provinces as millions are set to expire within the year, and experts say the once-essential tool has lost its importance in the pandemic. There are 90 million rapid tests in the federal inventory, Health Canada said in an email. About 80,000 of those are set to expire within six months and 6.5 million within the year. The rest expire within two years. “Canada has robust inventories and is well prepared for COVID response,” Anne Génier, with Health Canada, said in an email. Ottawa has ordered more than 811 million