National News

The pace of auto theft is dropping in Canada thanks to collective efforts to crack down on thieves, says an industry group focused on insurance fraud and crime.

Équité Association said in a report released Monday that the number of vehicles reported stolen nationally dropped 19.1 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Just over 23,000 vehicles were reported stolen in the first six months of the year in Canada, the report said.

With less than a year to go until the 2026 World Cup, political tensions and U.S. policy threaten to pose problems as Canada, the United States and Mexico prepare to co-host the tournament.

Next year’s FIFA World Cup will be the biggest ever, with the three countries hosting a record 48 teams. Between June 11 and July 19, they will play 104 matches, most of them in the U.S.

Avery Shenfeld doesn't think the Bank of Canada will cut its benchmark interest rate at its decision on Wednesday, but if it does, he said it will be a "pleasant surprise."

"There's always a chance that they'll surprise with the rate cut," the chief economist of CIBC said.

Most economists are also expecting the Bank of Canada will hold its policy rate steady at 2.75 per cent for a third consecutive decision later this week.

The Canadian Nurses Association says it hopes the new "united Team Canada" approach at the Council of the Federation will lead to harmonization of nurses' licences across the country.

The association was among a number of health-care advocacy groups at the recent annual meeting of Canada's premiers.

While health care tends to take centre stage when the premiers meet, this year's gathering with Prime Minister Mark Carney was dominated by discussion of U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war.

Most Canadians believe the country is making good progress on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, a new poll from Leger suggests.

"The extent to which people feel progress on reconciliation is being made or not has an important bearing on how they feel about the country," said Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies, which commissioned the poll.

The survey of 1,580 respondents was conducted between June 20 and 22. A margin of error cannot be associated to the survey because online polls are not considered to be truly random samples.

A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says the federal public service could shed almost 60,000 jobs over the next four years as Ottawa looks to cut costs.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne sent letters to multiple ministers asking them to identify cuts to program spending at their departments of 15 per cent by 2028-29.

The report, written by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives senior economist David Macdonald, says the federal public service could lose up to 57,000 employees by 2028.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada's new Arctic ambassador will play a key role in preserving sovereignty in the region as the military closely watches the movements of a Chinese icebreaker.

Iqaluit resident Virginia Mearns will be Canada's senior Arctic official on the world stage, following a career with local Inuit governments.

"Canada's Arctic ambassador is going to advance Canada's polar interests in multilateral forums," Anand told The Canadian Press in an interview from Inuvik, N.W.T.

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two leaders of the Freedom Convoy protest, are scheduled to be sentenced for mischief on Oct. 7 in an Ottawa courtroom.

In addition to lengthy prison sentences, the Crown wants to seize Barber's truck, which was used in the protest.

A forfeiture hearing on that matter is scheduled for Sept. 12.

Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said Thursday she wants to rule on the mischief sentence and truck forfeiture at the same time so that she does not deliver "piecemeal" decisions.

Three workers who were trapped in a remote northern British Columbia mine have been rescued after more than 60 hours underground.

Red Chris mine operator Newmont Corp. said the three men were safely bought to the surface at about 10:40 p.m. on Thursday.

It said Kevin Coumbs, Darien Maduke and Jesse Chubaty — contractors for B.C.-based Hy-Tech Drilling — were in good health and spirits after being trapped underground by two rockfalls on Tuesday morning.

"This was a carefully planned and meticulously executed rescue plan," the company said in a statement.