The union local for Metro Vancouver HandyDART workers says it will hold a rally in Vancouver today to mark the beginning of its strike after members voted down a final offer by employer Transdev Canada last week. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 says the rally will begin at noon across from Pacific Central Station in Vancouver. The union local says the majority of its members are "frustrated," and rejected the company's offer after dealing with staffing shortages and "poor compensation" compared to other transit employees. A statement from the union says the rally will feature speakers

Economists say the Bank of Canada is still on track to cut interest rates next week, despite economic growth coming in stronger than expected in the second quarter. Statistics Canada said on Friday the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1 per cent in the second quarter – beating the Bank of Canada’s forecast. But real gross domestic product continued to shrink on a per-person basis, marking the fifth consecutive decline. Economists typically look at GDP per capita to assess the standard of living. Overall economic growth also halted toward the end of the quarter as real gross domestic

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has written to the leader of the New Democrats, urging him to force an election this fall. Poilievre's letter to Jagmeet Singh says the NDP does not have a mandate from voters to keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power for another year. He's urging Singh to vote non-confidence in the government when the House of Commons resumes in September. The NDP entered a supply and confidence deal with the Liberals in 2022, agreeing to keep the minority government in power until 2025 in exchange for movement on key priorities. Singh has highlighted social programs

Montreal's Concordia University is reporting a nearly 30 per cent drop in new registrations of out-of-province students following a tuition hike announced last year by the Quebec government. The university says enrolment of international students has dropped by 11 per cent compared to last year. The provincial government has increased tuition for out-of-province students to $12,000 from $9,000 as part of an effort to protect the French language, but Quebec's two largest English-language universities are fighting the change. McGill University says it won't have its final enrolment numbers until

Toronto Public Health says the number of whooping cough cases are more than double the pre-pandemic average. The public health agency is reporting 99 cases in Toronto so far this year compared to the pre-pandemic five-year average of 38. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a cyclical disease that occasionally increases every two to six years in Ontario. It is a highly contagious persistent cough that’s of most concern for infants. Toronto Public Health says 41 per cent of cases are found in 10 to 14-year-olds. Last week, New Brunswick health officials said a whooping cough outbreak h

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will reduce the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers with stricter rules, urging employers to hire Canadian workers instead. The federal government announced today that it will refuse applications for low-wage temporary foreign workers in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher. Employers will be allowed to hire a maximum of 10 per cent of their workforce from the temporary foreign worker program, down from 20 per cent. Workers hired through the low-wage stream will be able to work a maximum of one year, down from tw

One of Canada's most scenic highways has reopened as the wildfire in Jasper National Park continues to be held. Jane Park, incident commander with Parks Canada, says Highway 93, also known as the Icefields Parkway, is now open to through traffic. But she warns travellers must head straight through the mountain- and glacier-lined road without stopping. She says there are no services available on the highway between the town of Jasper and the Icefields Discovery Centre and Saskatchewan River Crossing, a stretch of about 150 kilometres. Park says RCMP and emergency services are available on the r

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will not support back-to-work legislation or any "interference" in the bargaining process after Canada's two largest railway companies locked out their employees. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract before the midnight deadline. In a statement today, Singh criticized the companies for locking out their employees and said they should be bargaining with Teamsters Canada. A spokesman for Labour Minister Steven MacKinn

Police in multiple cities across Canada are responding to bomb threats that were sent to Jewish organizations, synagogues and some hospitals this morning. B'nai Brith Canada says more than 100 Jewish institutions received an email at 5 a.m. ET threatening explosions, and Ottawa police say they are on site at several hospitals in the capital.