Federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen is holding meetings with his provincial counterparts, including officials from BC. The ministers are searching for ways to make housing more affordable. The gathering comes one day before the House of Commons finance committee hears from the head of the federal housing agency and the superintendent of financial institutions, the regulator of Canadian banks. Statistics Canada says homeowner replacement costs across the country jumped nearly 14 per cent last month compared with 2020, and the Canadian Real Estate Association says the average home price in BC

A special avalanche warning has been posted for recreational backcountry users in several regions of B.C. and Alberta as warm temperatures make the snowpack unstable. Avalanche Canada and Parks Canada have issued the advisory to take effect immediately and last through to Monday. The warning applies to the North and South Columbias, Purcells, Kootenay Boundary, and Glacier, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks. It also applies to B.C.'s Sea-to-Sky region and South Coast Inland area from Squamish to Pemberton. James Floyer, the forecasting program supervisor for Avalanche Canada, says there

The mayor of Brampton, Ont., says three children have died after a house fire in the city this morning. Patrick Brown says they were nine, 12 and 15 years old. He says firefighters faced extremely challenging conditions as they tried to save the children. Brown says one firefighter was injured in the process. Peel Regional Police say emergency crews responded to the house fire after 9 a.m. this morning. They say the home was fully engulfed in flames. It's not clear yet what caused the fire.

Mounties in Manitoba say they have found the bodies of four people, including an infant and a teen, near the United States border. They say the four died from exposure during a blizzard and freezing temperatures. RCMP say American authorities first notified them about a group that had crossed into the U.S. from near Emerson, Man., and they had items with them for an infant but no baby. Mounties went searching yesterday and located the body of a man, woman and infant. They also found a teen's body nearby. RCMP are telling people not to attempt to cross the border in either direction because it

A key British Columbia highway has reopened to all traffic after being torn apart by disastrous flooding in November but it only took hours for the Transportation Ministry to issue a safety reminder. In a post on social media, the ministry says it has received reports of people stopping ``in unsafe ways'' to take pictures along the Coquihalla Highway corridor, also known as Highway 5. A roughly 130-kilometre stretch of the multi-lane, high-speed link between the Lower Mainland and the Interior was ripped up by floods or slides that also collapsed or washed out seven bridges during a series of

B.C. is reporting 2,387 new cases of COVID-19, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 303,565 cases in the province.There are currently 35,770 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 262,591 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 895 COVID-positive individuals are currently in hospital and 115 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.The new/active cases include:814 new cases in Fraser HealthTotal active cases: 17,441487 new cases in Vancouver Coastal HealthTotal active cases: 8,945550 new cases in Interior Healt

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says a 31 year old man has been charged in a fatal stabbing near the Metrotown Mall in Burnaby last month. IHIT says 25 year old Melissa Blimkie from North Vancouver was taken to hospital after she was found with stab wounds on December 19th but later died of her injuries. It says Everton Downey was charged today with second-degree murder and remains in custody. Police say the two had been in a relationship for some time prior to the homicide.

A First Nation on Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency and banned the use of water for everything except flushing toilets after a barge severed a water supply line. A message posted by the District of Ucluelet says the underwater line in the inlet between Ucluelet and the Indigenous community of Hitacu was damaged Monday, leaving the community without water for showers, drinking, cooking or fire suppression. A statement from the Ucluelet First Nation says water is being delivered to the roughly 275 affected residents and trucks have been filling the community's water tower to pr

More financial help is on the way for British Columbia businesses forced to stay closed for at least another month as the province tries to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A statement from the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation says businesses including event venues, bars, nightclubs and lounges that don't serve full meals are eligible for grants of up to $20,000, based on staffing levels. The funds, which double the amount available to those businesses, can be claimed through the provincial COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant. Businesses ordered by the provin