The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says October home sales were up 29 per cent compared to a year ago, making it the second-best October on record. The board says its agents sold 3,687 homes last month, up from2,858 sold in October 2019. Home sales were also up 1.2 per cent from September amid a surge in sales of detached homes. The benchmark price for Vancouver homes hit $1,045,100 in October, up six per cent from last October and 0.4 per cent from September. The housing market has been catching up after COVID-19 lockdowns earlier this year stymied the spring selling season. Board cha

BC is reporting a record 1,120 new cases of COVID-19 over the three-day weekend reporting period. Health officials are also reporting six deaths linked to the pandemic, bringing the total to 269 fatalities. The province now has two-thousand-945 active cases, including 90 people who are being treated in hospital. Health officials say the numbers are concerning but the vast majority of people are following safety precautions, despite images of crowds in Vancouver on Halloween night.

Vancouver police say they are disappointed after social media posts showed downtown streets crowded with party-goers on Halloween night, apparently flouting COVID-19 safety protocols.Spokesman Const. Jason Doucette says it wasn't possible to try to disperse the alcohol-fuelled crowd or issue tickets due to a number of factors.He says the number of people in downtown grew larger than expected and additional resources were brought in from around the city.Doucette says police made a number of arrests for minor offences, such as causing a disturbance, but there were no reported injuries.He says p

The B.C. government says it will increase surveillance this weekend as an order limiting the number of people who can visit a home is in effect because of COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced this week that gatherings are now limited to people in an immediate household, plus their so-called ``safe six''' guests. In a joint statement, Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are reminding people to make the Halloween weekend safe for everyone by maintaining safe physical distances from one another. They say this is also not the time for large gatherings in homes as the nu

The pace of economic growth in Canada slowed in August as real gross domestic product grew 1.2 per cent in the month, Statistics Canada said Friday. The rise compared with a revised 3.1 per cent gain in July, up from its initial reading for the month of 3.0 per cent. The report came as the agency also released a preliminary estimate for a gain of 0.7 per cent in September to bring growth in the third quarter to about 10 per cent. Economists on average had expected an increase of 0.9 per cent for August, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. TD Bank senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the latest death from COVID-19 shows even small social gatherings can be dangerous. Dr. Henry says an 80 year old woman in the Fraser Health region has died after contracting the virus at a small birthday party where a guest did not know they had the virus. She is also reporting 234 new cases of COVID-19 today, pushing the total past 14,000. The province's active caseload also reached a new record high of 2,344. The number of people in hospital decreased by one, to 84, with 24 patients in intensive care or critical care units. Dr. Henry says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning what he is calling a deadly terrorist attack in the French city of Nice.French authorities say an attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church in the Mediterranean city Thursday, prompting the country to raise its security alert status to the highest level.Trudeau says in a Twitter post that Canada stands in solidarity with the French people and denounces the attack as unjustifiable, adding his thoughts are with the loved ones of the victims.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet called on Trudeau to issue a strong condemnati

Public health officials have declared another outbreak of COVID-19 at a seniors assisted-living facility in B.C., while case counts keep climbing. A news release Wednesday says the latest outbreak in the facility in Surrey brings the total number of long-term care or assisted-living sites in the province with active COVID-19 outbreaks to 21. B.C. health officials also say there has been a new community outbreak at the Okanagan Men's Centre, a counselling and addiction treatment centre. B.C. health officials are asking people to refrain from holding private parties and gatherings this Hallowee

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says it will take quite some time for the economy to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.In its latest economic outlook, the bank says a rapid expansion as the Canadian and global economies re-opened has given way to slower growth.It says Canada's economy won't fully recover what was lost to COVID-19 until 2022 and Macklem says the the path will be uneven over time and across sectors.The economy is forecast to contract by 5.7 per cent this year but grow by 4.2 per cent next year and 3.7 per cent in 2022.The outlook was issued as the bank kept its over