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.

Quebec Premier François Legault is announcing a six-month freeze on certain temporary foreign worker applications in Montreal. The premier says the moratorium will apply to new applications and renewals, but nurses, teachers, construction workers, food transformation workers and those making at least $57,000 a year will be exempt. Legault says the total number of temporary immigrants across the province has doubled to 600,000 from 300,000 in just two years, putting a strain on housing as well as social services such as health and education. The premier said there are about 12,000 temporary fo

The people of Jasper are making progress on getting back to normal after being allowed back to their town, cleaning their homes, re-uniting with neighbours and seeking insurance information. Friday was the first day residents were allowed back after a wildfire forced the evacuation of the entire community, which eventually lost close to one third of its structures in the blaze. Over the weekend, Parks Canada announced the status of the Jasper Wildfire Complex had changed from out-of-control to being held, and an evacuation alert that advised returning residents to be ready to flee again on an

Some residents of the Municipality of Jasper are set to return to the town today after a massive wildfire forced them out more than three weeks ago. Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland has said only residents will be allowed to enter the town and other visitors will be directed to stay on the highway and drive on by. The plan had been for a full reopening, but Ireland said this week plans changed after some residents said they were concerned about visitors intruding on their privacy as they learn first-hand the state of their homes and businesses. The town's 5,000 residents, along with 20,000 more vi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Kyiv troops have full control of the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region in their incursion into Russian territory. The town, the largest that Ukraine has reportedly seized so far, had a prewar population of around 5,000 people. Natural gas flows from West Siberian gas fields through pipes that pass through Sudzha and cross the Ukrainian border into Ukraine’s system. Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian military commander’s office is being set up in Sudzha. He didn’t elaborate on the details or the functions of the office. The claim