Canada is banning the import of Russian steel and aluminum as part of its sanctions regime.Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says this will help undermine Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The Department of Industry says Canada imported $208 million in steel products from Russia in 2021 and $79 million last year.Canada also imported $44 million in aluminum from Russia in 2021, followed by $16 million last year.Russia's trade with Canada plummeted in the first 10 months after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year ago, with a 78 per cent per cent drop in exports from the same period one y

The committee of parliamentarians that oversees national security says it has begun a study of foreign interference, following a request from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.In a statement, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians says it will examine the state of foreign interference in Canada's democratic processes since 2018.The review will continue the work done in its previous review of the government's response to foreign interference, which covered the period from 2015 to 2018.The committee says it will also consider the independent report by former public serv

The Quebec RCMP say they are investigating two alleged secret police stations operated by Chinese authorities in the province.In a statement, the federal police force says its Integrated National Security Team has opened investigations into the suspected police stations in Montreal and Brossard, a suburb just south of the city.Sgt. Charles Poirier says Canadians of Chinese origin were victims of activities carried out by the stations, adding that any type of intimidation, harassment or targeting of diaspora communities will not be tolerated.Poirier says the RCMP are carrying out actions aimed

Defence Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa will fast-track the purchase of anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-drone weapons for the Canadian military with a mechanism last used during the war in Afghanistan.Anand announced the plan in a keynote speech to the defence community this morning, saying the new weapons are needed now for Canadian troops in Latvia and other parts of Europe.The defence minister also emphasized the need to update Canada's long-term plan for the military.The Liberal government released a defence policy in 2017, at a time when the threat posed by terrorist organizations such

Liberal MP and former cabinet Marc Garneau is resigning after 15 years in politics.He did not answer questions this morning about why he's stepping down, telling reporters he wanted to speak to colleagues at the party's caucus meeting first.Garneau, who was federal transport minister for about five years before serving as foreign affairs minister in 2021, says he will make a speech in the House of Commons later today.He represents the Montreal constituency of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Westmount and was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008.Garneau was one of the first six Canadian astronau

A Canadian engineering giant whose work includes critical military, power and transportation infrastructure across the country has been hit with a ransomware attack.The Department of National Defence says Black & McDonald reported the attack last month, but the company has refused to publicly confirm the incident.The Defence Department and Ontario Power Generation, which also confirmed the attack, say there is no evidence that it compromised sensitive or secret information about their sites and operations.But cybersecurity expert Terry Cutler says the attack is worrying since any secret da

Migration in both directions across the Canada-U.S. border is likely on the agenda today as Immigration Minister Sean Fraser visits Washington, D.C.Fraser's office says he is scheduled to meet with his American counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.The federal Liberal government is under mounting pressure, particularly from Quebec, to do something about the flow of undocumented migrants into Canada from the U.S.Some Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have been actively trying to make a political issue out of the number of migrants moving in the opposite direction.Prime Mini

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