Two recent cases of measles in Quebec and Ontario have raised alarms among Canadian health officials, who say the infections were not linked to travel or known exposures. That suggests the disease may already be circulating within some communities. So far, at least nine cases have been confirmed nationally. While experts say the overall risk of a large outbreak is low, they warn that areas with lower vaccination rates remain vulnerable. Federal data shows immunization coverage has slipped over the past decade – with 79 per cent of children receiving both doses of the measles vaccine in 2021,

The Government of Canada's National Child Protection Act has passed all stages in Parliament, and is now going to become law soon. The purpose of this law is to protect the funding of the National Child Care System, which would be difficult for any future government to defund. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government announced the establishment of a National Child Care System in 2021. It aims to bring the cost of day care to $10 per day by 2026. However, experts have raised concerns about a lack of spaces to meet the growing demand for subsidized childcare. The federal government announce

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada will bring back visa requirements for people from Mexico because of a spike in asylum claims in recent years. Miller says Mexicans accounted for 17 per cent of all asylum claimants in 2023, and most of their claims are either rejected or withdrawn by the applicants. Quebec Premier François Legault has been urging Ottawa to make the change, telling the federal government his province is reaching a breaking point because of the number of claims. Mexican citizens flying to Canada will be able to apply for an electronic travel authorization if they h

The Canadian government is going to present the pharmacare bill in a day or two. Health Minister Mark Holland has listed it on the notice paper of the House of Commons. The government's House Leader Steve MacKinnon said on his way to the Liberal meeting this morning that he expects it to be tabled on Thursday because the deadline under the agreement with the NDP is Friday. Initially, diabetes and birth control drugs are being covered. In return for supporting the minority government of the Liberals, the NDP had placed several conditions, including the pharmacare condition. The NDP had previ

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Ottawa is ready to step in and shut down shady schools that are abusing the international student program if provinces don't crack down on them. Miller says there are problems across the college sector, but some of the "really bad" actors are private institutions and those schools need to be shut down. The minister says provinces are responsible for addressing problems in the post-secondary sector with regards to international students. But he says if they won't do it, Ottawa will, though there are "jurisdictional questions" around what the federal governm

A new report says the crisis in Canada's bail system has worsened over the last decade, with more people in pre-trial custody and some spending weeks in detention before being released. A report released today by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says that by 2021-2022, the proportion of people in provincial and territorial jails who were awaiting bail or trial was more than 70 per cent and nearly 79 per cent in Ontario. That's compared with just over 54 per cent in 2014, when the association released its initial report on the issue. The report says that while there are "clear timeframe

The relief given by the Government of Canada to international students to work more than 20 hours is ending on April 30. Meanwhile, reports say that the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is considering a permanent change to increase the working hours for international students from 20 to 30 hours. Immigration Minister Mark Miller announced the reduction in the number of international students in January, saying that students who are already in Canada or who have applied for a study permit by December 7, 2023 will be able to work without the 20-hour limit until April 30. Ear

BC is launching a public housing program that aims to fast-track rental property developments on under-utilized lands throughout the province. The province says the 2.95 billion dollar BC Builds program will provide low-cost financing to build affordable rental units for middle-income earners on government, community and non-profit owned lands. It says it has already identified 20 sites with the potential to build up to four thousand rental units. Premier David Eby says they are aiming for a concept-to-construction timeline of 12 to 18 months to build the housing, compared with the current thr

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been embroiled in controversy over ArriveCAN, which was released during the Covid-19 pandemic.The Auditor General of Canada says there was mismanagement in the contract, development and implementation of the ArriveCAN app, making it impossible to determine the final cost of the app.However, the Auditor General put the cost at an estimated $59.5 million, while the Canada Border Services Agency said the estimated cost to build and operate the app was $54 million.