National News

Students who have been hunting for a summer job and recent immigrants looking for work have felt the brunt of the country's weakening labour market, Statistics Canada's latest employment report shows.

The federal agency’s July labour force survey released on Friday says the overall jobless rate held steady at 6.4 per cent last month as the economy shed a modest 2,800 jobs.

The employment rate, which measures the share of the population aged 15 and older that is employed, fell slightly as fewer people looked for work. 

Residents of Jasper, Alta., who lost their homes in last month’s wildfire face unique rebuilding challenges tied to leasing provisions nearly as old as Canada, followed modern rules dictating what they can and can’t construct.

Lawyer Jessica Reed said property owners in the townsite in Jasper National Park own their buildings but, unlike other municipalities, don’t own the land they sit on.

Global Affairs Canada says it has approved the temporary relocation of the children and their guardians to a safe third country.

Embassy staff are expected to remain in Israel.

"The Embassy of Canada to Israel in Tel Aviv, the Embassy of Canada to Lebanon in Beirut, and the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority, all remain fully operational and continue to provide essential services to Canadians, including consular services," Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Wednesday evening. 

Residents in Calgary and surrounding communities, fresh off having to conserve water for weeks due to a water main break, are soon going to have to do it all over again.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced Wednesday extended tests on more than 10 kilometres of pipe have revealed 16 more problem spots that need to be fixed.

Work on those spots is to begin in about three weeks, on Aug. 28, and are expected to last one month.

The Canadian government has updated its travel advisory for the United Kingdom amid a rash of ongoing demonstrations. 

It says visitors should "exercise a high degree of caution" in the country and takes note of demonstrations and violent clashes between protesters and police over the past week. 

The travel advice cautions that even peaceful demonstrations can turn violent at any time and can deteriorate quickly.

On July 24, Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the area around Lachute, Que., northwest of Montreal, urging people to take shelter. The warning was accurate: a tornado touched down outside Lachute about an hour after the alert. But three other twisters that day slipped past forecasters.

After landing back in Toronto, Summer McIntosh says she would return to Paris if selected as Canada's flag bearer for the closing ceremony.

The Toronto teenager who won four medals at the Paris Games, including three golds and a silver, says it would be "an honour" to carry the flag for Canada. 

McIntosh says that having returned home, she wants to take a break from swimming and plans to relax at her cottage with friends before likely coming back to Toronto to do some shopping. 

But she is not ruling out a quick turnaround to Paris. 

The Saskatchewan government says students won't be allowed to use cellphones in class in the upcoming school year.

The move, announced Tuesday, applies to all kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms. 

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said in a news release that too often phones are taking students' attention away from what they should be learning.

"This new policy will allow students to be more engaged with their teachers and focused on learning the skills and knowledge they need to reach their potential," he said.

Saskatoon police say they have found the remains of a missing woman in a city landfill and that a suspect in her death has since died.

Officers began searching the landfill in May for 22-year-old Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who was reported missing in December 2020.

Police said at the time they had collected evidence from electronic devices that led them to the landfill.

Chief Cameron McBride says an autopsy could not determine the cause of the woman's death.

But he says a suspect in the death died of a drug overdose in 2023.

Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault says the federal government is considering new regulations that could make fewer employers eligible to hire temporary foreign workers.

It's part of a suite of changes the minister is announcing in an effort to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada. 

He says he told a group of large business associations today that the program cannot be used to circumvent hiring Canadian workers.