Canada

TORONTO, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Western countries should have a united front against China to prevent the Asian state from using commercial interests to play them against each other, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an interview aired on Saturday.

Trudeau said China has been "playing" Western countries against one another as they compete for access to economic opportunities in the country.

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Canada met its target of granting 401,000 foreigners permanent residency in 2021 by focusing its efforts on temporary residents already in the country, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Thursday.

Canada, which depends on immigration to drive its economy and support an aging population, saw new permanent residents falling over 45% to 185,000 in 2020, when borders were largely closed due to COVID-19.

OTTAWA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Municipalities should rezone broadly to allow more density and Canada should temporarily ban foreign buyers to help alleviate the housing affordability crunch faced by residents, the country's housing minister said on Tuesday.

Ahmed Hussen told Reuters in an interview that housing should be for Canadians to live in, not passive foreign investment, and that he backs Canadian cities implementing density measures like those recently rolled out in New Zealand, which allow up to three homes to be built on most single-family lots.

OTTAWA, Dec 22 (NNN-XINHUA) – Canada reported 9,597 new COVID-19 cases yesterday afternoon, bringing the cumulative total to 1,907,180 cases, with 30,082 deaths.

Most provinces of Canada announced having reinstated stern restrictions, as a fifth wave of COVID-19 spreads throughout the country, fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Quebec, a populous province with a population of 8.4 million, reported 5,043 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, breaking its record of new COVID-19 infections again.

OTTAWA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said a spike in cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant was "scary," while the country's top medical official made clear the healthcare system could soon be swamped.

COVID-19 case numbers are rapidly increasing in Canada, with several of the 10 provinces reporting big jumps as Omicron replaces Delta as the dominant variant.

TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Canada's government implored residents on Wednesday not to leave the country as provinces ramp up vaccinations to combat the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, even as efforts to head off a COVID-19 wave are complicated by public fatigue over the pandemic.

COVID-19 case numbers are increasing, with the national seven-day average of new cases at its highest point since Oct. 1, as Canadian hospitals struggle to clear backlogs from months of postponed procedures. Many exhausted staff members appear ill-equipped for another surge in infections.

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Canada is expected to toughen restrictions on international travel with new measures to be announced on Wednesday as it looks to limit the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, CBC News reported.

Possible measures, including a ban on all non-essential foreign travellers coming to Canada, including from the United States, were discussed in a call between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers but no decision was reached, the CBC reported.

MONTREAL, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada on Tuesday banned travellers from Egypt, Nigeria and Malawi over fears of the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing to 10 the number of African countries targeted
by Ottawa.

   “Foreign nationals who have transited or stayed in these 10 countries cannot enter Canada if they have been in those countries in the last two weeks,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a press conference.

   The measure takes effect on Wednesday, the government said.

OTTAWA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Canada's annual inflation rose to 4.7 percent in October 2021 from the previous month's 4.4 percent, according to Statistics Canada on Wednesday.

It was the largest year-over-year rise since February 2003 because of snarls in supply chains, bumps in prices at the pump and comparisons to lows seen one year earlier.

All eight components that the data agency tracks were higher, but the increase was led by higher transportation costs, which went up by more than 10 percent in the past year.

Oct 24 (Reuters) - A fire broke out on Saturday on containers on a cargo ship carrying mining chemicals off British Columbia, and the Canadian Coast Guard said it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to assess the situation, including environmental hazards.

Sixteen crew members have been evacuated from the MV Zim Kingston, while five remained onboard to fight the fire, the Canadian Coast Guard said in a statement on Saturday.

"No injuries were reported," Danaos Shipping Co, the company that manages the container ship, said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday.