Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has announced it will be waiving fees for BC residents who need to replace documents that were destroyed in the floods that displaced nearly 15,000 people last month. Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser says the special measures will cover submissions from November 15th until May 31st for passports, refugee travel documents, certificates of identity, citizenship certificates and permanent resident cards. He says this will allow Canadians and permanent residents time to sort out what documents they need to replace and to apply at no cost. Immigratio

The Canadian military confirmed today that 21 of its 23 Cyclone helicopters have cracks in their tails. Cracks were first detected in one of the maritime helicopters during a routine inspection on Nov. 26 at 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron at Patricia Bay, B.C. By Dec. 5, the Air Force said it had discovered damage in the same general area on a total of 19 helicopters. At the time, the military said two Cyclones did not appear to have any tail defects, and the remaining two in the fleet were receiving longer-term maintenance and would be inspected at a later date. As of today, cracks on six

Canada has surpassed a grim milestone, recording its 30,000th COVID-19 death since the pandemic began in early 2020.Ontario reported nine additional deaths attributed to the virus on Thursday, pushing Canada's overall total to more than 30,000 as experts warned of fresh threats posed by the more transmissible Omicron variant.Canada reached 10,000 COVID-19 deaths last November, and surpassed 20,000 deaths two months later in January, 2021 — a leap that occurred before enough vaccines were administered to have an impact.Experts say vaccines have significantly limited the number of people dying

Ontario is expanding COVID-19 vaccine booster eligibility to all adults, provided it's been three months since they got their second dose. Residents 18 and over will be able to book their vaccines starting Monday, and Premier Doug Ford says the new push will require all hands on deck. Booster appointments opened up for Ontarians 50 and older just two days ago, and Ford is urging them to book immediately, because they're most at risk of serious illness from the Omicron variant. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has introduced a slate of new measures meant to curb the spread of the highly contagious Omi

The government now advises against all non-essential international travel in the face of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos made the announcement Wednesday, following a Tuesday evening meeting between premiers and the prime minister. The health minister says the highly transmissible variant is now spreading in Canadian communities, and just about anywhere else in the world. Ottawa agreed to send shipments of booster doses and rapid tests to provinces and territories to quickly ramp up vaccination campaigns to combat the virus at home. Minister

Ontario and Quebec are reporting a jump in COVID-19 infections as the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of concern prompts varied public health responses across Canada. There are 1,808 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario and 2,386 in Quebec. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced an expansion to COVID-19 booster shot coverage and rapid testing, while also loosening gathering restrictions. Private indoor gatherings are still limited to 10 people but can now include more than two different households regardless of whether people are vaccinated or not. Rapid test kits are to be made available to al

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says people will have to be careful as they finalize their Christmas plans this year, now that the highly transmissible Omicron variant is spreading through Canada.The warning comes the morning after Trudeau met with his provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss potential measures to dampen the impact of the new variant. On the table were several options to limit international travel.When the threat of Omicron emerged late last month the government issued a travel advisory, urging Canadians to be aware that travel to an area with Omicron could hamper thei

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fall economic statement today that outlined a better-than-expected economic rebound, but also billions more in spending, including on the response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Here are some other measures outlined in the fiscal update: Immigration backlogs - The federal government plans to put $85 million into plowing through massive backlogs in processing immigration applications starting in fiscal 2022-23. The government acknowledged the pandemic dramatically slowed down the pace of processing immigration applications, and many resources

The Canadian Press News Story of the Year is the discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential school in British Columbia's Interior.It came ahead of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine rollout and stories about climate change and severe weather in B-C in the annual survey of editors at media outlets across the country.The story broke in May when the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation in Kamloops announced ground-penetrating radar found what were believed to be the remains of up to 215 children.