Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could designate all 8,900 kilometres of their shared border as an official crossing under the Safe Third Country Agreement.A Canadian government official with knowledge of the talks says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden will discuss the issue when they meet in Ottawa on Friday.The Canadian Press is granting anonymity to the official to discuss matters not yet made public.The bilateral treaty that Canada and the U.S. signed in 2004 requires asylum seekers to make their claim in the first country they land in, but it o

Members of Parliament have voted unanimously in favour of urging the government to address the needs of people with invisible disabilities in its national housing strategy.Liberal MP Arielle Kayabaga introduced the motion, which calls on the government to include an expert on disabilities in its National Housing Council.It also asks the government to formally recognize the barriers people with disabilities face when it comes to finding a home.Invisible disabilities include mental health disorders, visual or hearing impairments and cognitive disabilities.Kayabaga told the House of Commons in Oc

The RCMP say they arrested a man in Montreal today on terrorism allegations after receiving intelligence from the FBI.Police say officers arrested 18-year-old Mohamed Amine Assal, who is from Montreal's St-Laurent borough.They say their operation was to disrupt Assal's "suspicious activities" and get him to sign a peace bond that could include several conditions.The RCMP say their investigation gave them reasonable grounds to fear that Assal may commit a terrorism offence.They say he has not been charged but could be at a later date.An RCMP news release says the police force is committed to co

At least seven different police and military units will be patrolling Ottawa's skies and streets this week as the city braces for the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.They are set to arrive Thursday for the first official visit to Canada since Biden took office as president in 2021 and will stay overnight until Friday.The last time the country hosted a president was in 2016, when former president Barack Obama came to Ottawa for the North American Leaders' Summit near the end of his second term.Biden's sojourn will take place under a heavy police presence, with the

The federal government says it will spend up to $1.5 billion over the next three years to improve access to drugs used to treat rare diseases.Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says up to $1.4 billion of that money will be used to help provinces and territories expand coverage of new and existing drugs that treat rare diseases.The federal government says it wants to create a list of new and emerging drugs for rare diseases that would be covered in a similar way by all provincial and territorial health insurance plans.Another $52 million will be used to gather evidence on the safety and effective

Families Minister Karina Gould announced today that the federal government has now "completely eliminated" the backlog of passport applications that caused major delays and major political strife last year.She also announced that Ottawa is launching a new digital tool that will allow Canadians to check the status of their Service Canada application online, as long as they provide an email address.The update comes after Gould said in late January that the backlog was "virtually eliminated," with the exception of some complex cases held back for reasons such as child-custody issues.The pandemic

Provincial police say a third person has died after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians in an eastern Quebec town one week ago.Police say Simon-Guillaume Bourget, 41, died on the weekend after being injured last Monday.Two other men, Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean Lafrenière, 73, died after being struck in Amqui, about 350 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.Police have said eight others were injured in the crash, ranging in age from less than a year old to 77, and hospital officials in Quebec City say one person is in critical condition and two others are stable.Steeve Gagnon, 38, is faci

A new Punjabi bilingual program is set to start at the Seven Oaks School Division in Winnipeg next school year. Students will receive Punjabi instruction in core subjects for about half of the day.There will also be some focus on Indian culture and history.Amber Trails Community School will be offering the program to students in kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.This is the fourth non-French bilingual program offered in the school division, which currently runs similar programs in Ukrainian, Ojibway and Tagalog.

The federal government says Mike Duheme will be the interim commissioner of the RCMP, until a replacement is found for Brenda Lucki.Lucki, who was appointed commissioner in April 2018, is retiring as of today.Her tenure as the top Mountie has been marked by internal and external challenges, including allegations of systemic racism within the force, growing calls to defund the police, and the devastating mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020.Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Duheme, who currently oversees federal policing for the Mounties, will take over the job on Saturday.Duheme was