The federal government is giving seniors a one-time, tax-free top-up payment to help manage extra costs associated with COVID-19.Seniors Minister Deb Schulte says seniors who receive old age security will get $300, and those who receive the guaranteed income supplement will receive $200.In all, the $2.5-billion measure will provide payments to 6.7 million seniors, Schulte says.She says many have faced an increase in the cost of living as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, from more for dispensing fees for medications or delivery fees for food and services.She also says their savings have taken

There are 69,981 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 38,469 confirmed (including 3,013 deaths, 9,703 resolved) Ontario: 20,546 confirmed (including 1,669 deaths, 15,131 resolved) Alberta: 6,300 confirmed (including 117 deaths, 4,659 resolved) British Columbia: 2,353 confirmed (including 130 deaths, 1,719 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,019 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 767 resolved) Saskatchewan: 568 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 363 resolved) Manitoba: 278 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 247 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 244

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will continue to push for caution in terms of lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Trudeau says leaders across the country are trying to find the right balance in terms of easing back on the lockdown and reopening the economy. But he says the sacrifices that Canadians have made over the past two months will ``all go up in smoke'' if the wrong choices are made. The comments came as schools in parts of Quebec reopened today even though the province has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, says there are about a dozen potential vaccines that officials are hoping will prevent COVID-19, though none is more promising than the others. A vaccine has been seen as critical for returning to pre-pandemic normal, with researchers in Canada and around the world scrambling to develop one as quickly as possible. Even as that work is going on, Tam says officials are also looking at how a vaccine will be rolled out to people if and when one is discovered. Health Minister Patty Hajdu says the government is also looking at ways to ensure de

The RCMP says three of the four semi-automatic weapons used by a gunman during last month's mass shooting in Nova Scotia are believed to have come from the United States. The federal force says in a news release today that only one of the guns could be traced back to a source in Canada. The Mounties are still declining to reveal the brand or the calibre of the weapons, two handguns and two rifles used during the April 18-19 rampage that killed 22 people in five communities around the province. Gabriel Wortman, who police have said didn't have a licence for the weapons, was shot and killed by

The federal government says it will provide loans and financing to the country's largest employers to help them weather the COVID-19 economic crisis. The Liberals are promising bridge financing to companies whose financial needs aren't being met by conventional credit so they can stay open and keep employees on their payrolls. The government says in a release that another goal of the financing program, aimed at companies with $300 million or more in revenues, is to avoid bankruptcies of otherwise viable firms wherever possible. Rules on access to the money will place limits on dividends, share

Quebec children have begun heading back to class today for the first time since March as the province reopens elementary schools and daycares outside the Montreal area. Quebec is the first province to open schools following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and school officials say it will be far from business as usual. Students are being met by staff wearing masks and in some cases face shields, and they are being told to follow physical-distancing rules and wash their hands frequently. Libraries, gyms and cafeterias will be closed, and children will spend most of the day at their desks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will not pay the full price for medical masks that do not live up to medical standards.About eight million of 11 million N95 respirators shipped to the government from China through a Montreal-based supplier failed to meet specifications, federal officials said Friday.Trudeau says the discovery speaks to the government's “rigorous verification system” overseen by the Public Health Agency of Canada.The prime minister did not name the price the government will pay for the sub-standard respirators, which are used to protect against the COVID-19 virus.

There are 66,434 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 36,150 confirmed (including 2,725 deaths, 8,928 resolved) Ontario: 19,598 confirmed (including 1,540 deaths, 13,990 resolved) Alberta: 6,098 confirmed (including 115 deaths, 4,020 resolved) British Columbia: 2,315 confirmed (including 127 deaths, 1,579 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,008 confirmed (including 46 deaths, 722 resolved) Saskatchewan: 544 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 355 resolved) Manitoba: 273 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 247 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 dea