Travel news

TORONTO — Business owners in Toronto are turning to stunts and dramatic measures in an effort to stay afloat amid renewed lockdown measures put in place by the Ontario government to combat the growing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.Storefronts in the Roncesvalles Village neighbourhood of Toronto were wrapped in brown paper marked with “for lease” messages as part of a campaign to warn residents that local independent businesses are in peril.If we don’t support local busi

Calling all collectors! If you have any old Canadian paper bills, now is the time to spend them.The Bank of Canada (BoC) issued a reminder on Thursday that older bank notes will have their legal tender status removed as of Jan. 1, 2021. This will affect $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 notes.Losing legal tender status means Canadians will no longer be able to use the cash in transactions. However, most Canadians won’t be affected because these banknotes haven’t been produced in decades.I

We’re accustomed to shark rescue stories in which a human is freed from the jaws of a bloodthirsty beast, after a terrifying underwater battle. This shark rescue story is not like that. Watch the video belowto see what happened, after a young Australian girl encountered a beleaguered shark in shallow waters.When 11-year-old Billie Rea was walking with her family on Kingston Beach, in Tasmania, Australia, she spotted a draughtboard shark trapped between rocks.Without hesitation, she re

American actor Richard Schiff is singing the praises of Canada’s “socialized” health-care system after being hospitalized with COVID-19 in Vancouver this month. The star contracted the virus while filming “The Good Doctor” in Vancouver earlier this month. Schiff is likely best-known for his starring role as Toby Ziegler on the long-running TV series “The West Wing,” for which he won an Emmy Award in 2000. Schiff and his wife Sheila Kelley teste

A pregnant cleaning employee denied access to an N95 mask when cleaning the room of a COVID-19 positive patient.A nurse hiding an N95 mask under a surgical mask after being warned by her supervisor that she could be fined if she was caught wearing an N95 again. Another nurse worried that, when the pandemic is over, their employer won’t have enough counsellors ready to handle staff demand.These are some of the stories researchersheard from health-care workers during the first wave of O

The new restrictions on business activities announced by provincial governments amid a second wave of COVID-19 will take a bite out of the economy just in time for the holidays, new economic forecasts predict.The country’s recovery from the spring shutdowns could grind to a halt in December, economists at Royal Bank of Canada said in a report issued Tuesday. “All told, we judge that the measures that have been rolling out since early October could clip Canadian quarterly growth

OTTAWA — A lack of vaccine-production capabilities in Canada means the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries could have some of their citizens inoculated against COVID-19 before Canadians start to get shots, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.“One of the things to remember is Canada no longer has any domestic production capacity for vaccines,” Trudeau said during his regular COVID-19 news conference outside his home in Ottawa.“We used to have it deca

Alberta remains the only province in Canada without a province-wide mandatory mask order, but according to its health minister, it’s actually one of the most “pro-mask” jurisdictions in the country.During question period Monday, health minister Tyler Shandro was asked by NDP opposition leader Rachel Notley why the province still doesn’t have a mandatory mask mandate, as COVID-19 cases continue to soar at a record pace. There are currently more than 13,000 active cases in

Tanya Talaga grew up feeling like she lived in two different worlds.The bestselling author spent most of her childhood, in the 1970s and ’80s, living just outside of Toronto. But every summer her family would visit the traditional territory of Fort William First Nation in northern Ontario, where her mother grew up and where many relatives still live. Talaga’s father was Polish and her mother was Anishinaabe, raised by residential school survivors.“It was a time where you didn&r

It’s going to be strange not seeing “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek at the podium anymore, but thankfully the quiz show’s upcoming episodes will be led by a familiar face who loved Trebek as much as we do.Renowned former contestant Ken Jennings, who won the show’s ‘Greatest Of All Time’ title last year, has stepped up to the plate as the first of several interim guest hosts greeting audiences starting Nov. 30, producers announced on Monday.“Alex

OTTAWA — Online purchases have surged during the pandemic, but the federal government continues to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue because the sales tax system has not adapted to e-commerce.COVID-19-related restrictions have forced businesses to change their operations and consumers to shift purchasing habits online. Gaps and problems with Canada’s sales tax system have allowed foreign vendors who sell physical and digital goods and services in Ca

OTTAWA — Online purchases have surged during the pandemic, but the federal government continues to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue because the sales tax system has not adapted to e-commerce.COVID-19-related restrictions have forced businesses to change their operations and consumers to shift purchasing habits online. Gaps and problems with Canada’s sales tax system have allowed foreign vendors who sell physical and digital goods and services in Ca

With some Canadian cities under lockdown, it’s more difficult than ever to buy holiday gifts this year. Many folks are turning to online shopping and supporting small businesses by doing curbside pick-up.Some of us are also choosing to shop small, whether it’s because our incomes are precarious, or we’re not seeing our families and friends during the holidays. With budgets tighter than ever this year, it’s smart to get creative with gifts, which is why we scoured some of

VANCOUVER — An Indigenous man from British Columbia has filed complaints with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission after he and his granddaughter were handcuffed when they tried to open a bank account. Maxwell Johnson’s complaint says both he and his 12-year-old granddaughter were detained last December by Vancouver police officers when they tried to open an account at the Bank of Montreal using their Indigenous status cards.His complaint alleges

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests many Canadians are gaining weight because they’re eating more and exercising less during COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one-third of respondents in the survey conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies said they have put on weight since March, compared to 15 per cent who said they lost weight over that time.As well, about one-third of respondents said they’re exercising less, while 16 per cent said they’re working out more sin

Canadians have a clear message for our southern neighbours ahead of American Thanksgiving celebrations this week: stay home and stay safe.As Canada continues to weather it’s worst surge in COVID-19 cases six weeks after Canadian Thanksgiving, many here are warning that our southern neighbours could see an even bigger and more devastating spike following their annual gathering for turkey and gratitudes.We know, because we’ve already gone through it. One of the oddities of North Americ