National News

The national price on pollution will go up another $10 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions as scheduled today in most provinces.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is withstanding political pressure to delay or cancel the increase as fuel prices surge due mainly to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

Guilbeault says the government is not going to stall or move backward on its climate action plan, of which the carbon price is seen as a "cornerstone" policy.

Vaccinated travellers can enter Canada without a COVID-19 test beginning today. 

The change will spark a surge in travel bookings both into and out of the country, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, although it's not likely to reach pre-pandemic levels yet. 

People could still be randomly tested when they arrive and Health Canada requires anyone coming from outside the country to wear a mask in public for 14 days. 

Canada will extend some settlement services to fleeing Ukrainians, but they will not receive all of the same supports as typical refugees, the federal immigration minister said Wednesday.

Many Ukrainians who've applied to come to Canada are doing so under a special visitor visa program that would allow them to work and study for three years while they decide whether or not to return home. 

So far about 60,000 Ukrainians and their families have applied to come to Canada under that program, and another 12,000 have come under traditional immigration streams since January. 

The chief of a First Nation that's searching for unmarked graves at a former residential school in British Columbia says they're looking for long-term funding as they prepare for a visit today by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Chief Willie Sellars from Williams Lake First Nation says his community along with others conducting similar investigations at former government-funded, church-run institutions across Canada need financial support for their work from start to finish.

A former junior hockey player with life-altering injuries from a bus crash four years ago is getting a boost he's been anticipating for two years.

Ryan Straschnitzki, 22, is one of four individuals with spinal cord injuries who are in Calgary this week to have the epidural stimulators in their spines reprogrammed.

Straschnitzki was paralyzed from the chest down when a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was in a collision with a transport truck in 2018. Sixteen people were killed and another 13 were injured.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland plans to deliver this year's federal budget next week.

Freeland told the House of Commons she will unveil the government's spending plans on April 7 in a document that has been expected to focus on measures to spur economic growth.

It is also anticipated the budget will have new social programs promised as part of an agreement to earn the backing of the New Democrats in key parliamentary votes.

That includes the first steps on national pharmacare and dental care.

A new climate plan for Canada projects the oil and gas industry will need to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 42 per cent from current levels by 2030 if the country is to meet its new targets.

The emissions reduction plan tabled in the House of Commons today by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault forecasts that electricity emissions will be almost zero by the end of the decade but it will take longer to see real progress from the transportation sector.

The plan is a legislated requirement under the net-zero emissions law the government passed last year.

A mother, father, and their three children died in a house fire in Brampton, Ont., on Monday as firefighters risked their lives trying to rescue them. 

Brampton fire Chief Bill Boyes said crews were met with heavy smoke and flames when they arrived on the scene around 2 a.m. 

"Our hearts are absolutely breaking," Boyes said. "What happened here today, to lose three children and two adults, with one additional person in life-threatening condition, it's absolutely tragic."

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he has been interviewed by RCMP as part of an investigation into potential criminal identity fraud in the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership contest.

“I did an interview at (their) request, once,” Kenney said Monday after being asked by reporters.

“As I’ve said from the very beginning ... we’d always be happy to answer questions. At the end of the day, my campaign did everything it could to carefully follow all of the rules, and I’m confident we did so.”

Canadian soccer fans rejoiced upon seeing Canada's men's soccer team clinch a berth in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after a 4-0 win over Jamaica on Sunday at BMO Field.

This is just the second time Canada's men's soccer team has reached the World Cup in its history and the first time since 1986.

The World Cup is considered to be the most prestigious international soccer event in the world, taking place every four years.

The 2022 World Cup will take place from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.