The unemployment rate fell from 5.5 per cent in February to 5.3 per cent last month, knocking it down to its lowest rate since Statistics Canada started keeping records in 1976. The agency reports the economy created 72-thousand, 500 jobs, with the majority of the gains coming in Quebec and Ontario. CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham believes there may be room for the unemployment rate to fall a little further.

The federal Liberal government is promising $500 million in additional military aid to Ukraine as well as more humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv in response to Russia’s invasion. The commitments are contained in today’s federal budget and follow previous promises from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other ministers that Canada is looking at sending more weapons and other assistance to Ukraine.Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says while Canada and its allies have sanctioned Russia over its invasion, recent allegations of Russian war crimes show the Ukrainians need more help.The

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2022 federal budget on Thursday. Here are some of the smaller promises that you might have missed:— $1.9 billion over 24 years to build and operate the new Canadarm3 for the next generation NASA Lunar Gateway project.— $1.3 billion over the next five years and $331.2 million on going to support the long-term stability of Canada’s asylum system to better help people seeking refuge from violence and persecution.— $159 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to protect Canadian post-secondary and research institutions from foreign intell

Former Conservative deputy leader Leona Alleslev is set to formally announce her candidacy to be the party's next leader tomorrow. A source close to her campaign, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says she is expected to do so in Ottawa on Wednesday. Alleslev has all but formally made the announcement, having set up a campaign website to collect signatures needed for her nomination. She also posted on social media about hosting a meet-and-greet in Ottawa Wednesday, along with the tag line ``All in with Alleslev.'' Alleslev was first elected as an Ontario Liberal MP who crossed the floor

The Liberals have introduced a bill to support Canadian media outlets. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the legislation is designed to make digital giants like Google and Meta compensate the outlets for reusing their news content. The law will set up a process for digital platforms to privately negotiate deals with newspapers, magazines, digital news groups and broadcasters that publish news online. If the parties can't reach a deal, they would move to a mediation and arbitration process.

A 17-year-old boy has been sentenced to a year in an open-custody facility and six months of community supervision in a crash that killed two children in Vaughan, Ont., north of Toronto. York Regional Police say the teen, who was 16 at the time of the crash, also faces a six-year driving ban. They say he pleaded guilty in December to two counts of dangerous driving causing death and one of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. Police say the boy, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, was at the wheel of a Mercedes that went off the road and struck three people in a residential driv

Canada will face Belgium, Morocco and Croatia in Group F in the opening group stage of the World Cup in Qatar this November. The Canadian men are ranked 38th in the world compared to No. 2 for Belgium, No. 16 for Croatia and No, 24 Morocco. Canada was the last ball taken in the draw. The Canadians drew France, Hungary and the Soviet Union as first-round opponents in their only other visit to soccer's showcase, Mexico '86. Canada lost all three matches and was outscored 5-0. Friday's draw had Canada in Pot 4, which featured the lowest-ranked qualified teams. Rules of the draw meant that the Ca

It’s not the news we want to hear on the COVID front. Canada's chief public health officer says we are seeing a steady increase in the B-A-2 variant of the virus. Dr. Theresa Tam says the rising numbers are totally expected because anytime we relax public health measures and increase in-person activities then cases are going to go up. She also says the B-A-2 variant is more transmissible and that will significantly impact people who aren’t up to date with their COVID vaccinations. Dr. Tam’s parting message at her briefing today was, Get your booster.

Vaccinated travellers will no longer need a COVID-19 test to enter Canada as of Friday. The change is a departure from Canada's policy since the early days of the pandemic, and the struggling tourism industry describes it as a major boon. Travel agents say they've seen a surge in demand for flights since the change was announced two weeks ago. Domestic tourism groups also report a big bump in bookings over the last few weeks. While no test will be required after April 1 for people who are considered fully vaccinated, Health Canada still requires that anyone arriving from outside the country w