COVID-19

Canadians unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should be accommodated through measures like rapid testing, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said on Thursday, January 6, 2022, as health experts warned the lightning-fast spread of the Omicron variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

The heads of several Montreal homeless shelters say they're facing a crisis, as rising staff absences due to COVID-19 threaten to disrupt services during the coldest part of winter.

With COVID-19's latest wave showing few signs of abating concerns are deepening as more and more workers in vital sectors are sidelined by the pandemic.

Saskatchewan residents are swimming in COVID tests, leading some residents to send them to family members in other provinces where the tests aren't available.

Federal officials are adding more COVID-19 rapid tests to Canada's arsenal as surging infections from the Omicron variant push some public sectors to the brink.

Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has asked Transport Canada to investigate reports of "unacceptable" behaviour on a recent Sunwing Airlines flight from Montreal to Cancun, Mexico.

Experts and advocates are calling for governments to release some inmates in provincial jails and federal prisons as outbreaks of COVID-19 driven by the infectious Omicron variant spread through the country's correctional facilities.

Canadians in some parts of the country saw surgeries postponed, access to COVID-19 testing reduced and a return to classes delayed as provinces continued to struggle on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, with a sustained wave of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will hold a call with all of the country's premiers next week to discuss how governments are keeping citizens safe as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 rapidly spreads.

The latest wave of COVID-19 is bringing health-care resources in some remote communities in Canada to the breaking point as case numbers explode.

A New Year's Eve disturbance on an Air Canada plane which some passengers have said was related to bad behavior by Russia's world junior hockey team does not appear to have resulted in any charges, but the International Ice Hockey Federation says it could still take action.

Provinces are putting new measures in place to deal with an Omicron-fuelled rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, including delaying in-person schooling in Ontario by two weeks and bringing in the military to help Quebec speed up its third-dose vaccination program.

Canada's major cities are set to ring in the New Year with more of a gentle chime than a resounding clang, with many official celebrations cancelled or moved online for the second year in a row due to COVID-19.

Quebec Premier François Legault has announced the reimposition of a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew that begins tonight, New Year's Eve, and will remain in effect indefinitely.

City of Toronto officials say they are preparing to redeploy hundreds of staff to support critical and essential services in response to a surge in new COVID-19 cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.