Author: The Canadian Post
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported on Jan. 16, 2026, that housing starts rose 5.6% in 2025 to 259,028, the fifth-highest annual total on record, driven by a second straight year of record rental construction. CMHC’s chief economist said the increase was welcome but still “far from the target” for restoring affordability. A strong year, by recent standards Starts climbed from 245,367 in 2024, CMHC said. In centres of 10,000 people or more, actual starts rose 6% to 241,171. Purpose-built rental construction set a record for the second consecutive year and accounted for just over half of all starts in…
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Beijing on Jan. 16, 2026, that he found “much alignment” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Greenland’s sovereignty, Denmark’s rights and Canada’s Arctic sovereignty, as U.S. President Donald Trump pressed his threats to take over Greenland. Carney said Greenland’s future is for Greenlanders and Denmark to decide. A shared position, stated in Beijing Carney made the remarks at a press conference in the Chinese capital near the end of a visit that produced a tariff deal on electric vehicles and agricultural products. Asked what Canada was doing to protect Greenland’s integrity, he said the…
An Alberta Court of King’s Bench judge has upheld a ruling that splits four cats evenly between two former partners, two cats each. Justice Douglas Mah rejected a “best interests of the cats” test, holding that under Alberta law pets are property to be divided fairly, not children whose custody turns on their welfare. Four cats, two people, one breakup Kishan Singh and Reba Smith lived together for six years and acquired four cats during the relationship: Salem, Diablo, Zora and Samara. When the couple separated in March 2023, the cats became the subject of a protracted legal fight. A…
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in Beijing on January 16, 2026, that Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles a year into Canada at a 6.1 per cent tariff, replacing a 100 per cent surtax. In return, China will cut its tariff on Canadian canola seed from about 84 per cent to roughly 15 per cent. A reset announced in Beijing Mark Carney unveiled the agreement on Friday, January 16, after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing, including talks with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. Carney was the first Canadian…
A winter storm that swept into the Greater Toronto Area late on Jan. 14 dumped more than 20 centimetres of snow at Toronto Pearson by Thursday afternoon, Jan. 15. Under an orange snowfall warning, airlines cancelled more than 250 flights at Pearson by mid-afternoon and delayed hundreds more, disrupting travel across North America. The storm arrives The system moved in late Wednesday and intensified through Thursday, bringing the heaviest snowfall of the season so far to the Toronto area. Environment Canada placed the city under an orange snowfall warning — the second-highest tier in its colour-coded alert system, signalling severe…
Alberta emergency doctors compiled a document listing six deaths they consider potentially preventable and more than 30 near misses in overcrowded emergency departments over roughly two weeks, and sent it to the province on Jan. 11. On Jan. 15, Alberta’s hospitals minister delivered a capacity update and promised concrete steps in response. A list of cases the province could not ignore The document was assembled by Dr. Paul Parks, a Medicine Hat emergency physician and past president of the Alberta Medical Association, from anonymized cases submitted by emergency doctors across the province. Parks has confirmed he sent it to provincial…
The Government of Canada is investing $530,000 in three Ottawa arts and festival organizations through the Canada Arts Presentation Fund. Folk Canada will receive $100,000, the Ottawa Children’s Festival will receive $130,000, and the Ottawa Jazz Festival will receive $300,000 over two years, Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi announced on Jan. 15, 2026. How the money is divided The largest share, $300,000, goes to the Ottawa Jazz Festival, spread over two years to support its annual ten-day celebration of musical creativity and diversity. The multi-year structure is the detail that matters most for that organization: funding confirmed across two editions…
Manitoba will not administer the federal government’s gun buyback program for banned assault-style firearms. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe set out the province’s position in a statement this week, and Premier Wab Kinew defended it on Jan. 15, saying the federal program does not appear to be very efficient or well run, and would not make communities safer. Kinew defends the decision Asked by reporters and activists why Manitoba would not take part, Kinew was direct: “We’re not going to be participating with the federal government’s gun-buyback program.” He said federal officials had been in back-and-forth contact with provincial justice officials,…
A Leger online survey conducted Jan. 9 to 11, 2026 among 1,540 Canadians found 31 per cent believe it is likely the United States could one day attempt direct action to take control of Canada. The poll followed the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. Greenland was seen as the likeliest future U.S. target, cited by 55 per cent of respondents. Canada on a list it is not usually on Canada ranked lowest among the places respondents were asked about, but its presence on the list at all is the finding Leger highlighted. When Canadians who see further U.S. intervention as…
Canadian home sales fell 2.7 per cent in December 2025 from November, the Canadian Real Estate Association says, closing a year with 470,314 sales, down 1.9 per cent from 2024. December’s national average price was $673,335, down 0.1 per cent year over year. CREA forecasts sales will grow 5.1 per cent in 2026, led by pent-up first-time buyer demand. A quiet finish to a two-part year December’s decline was not, in CREA’s reading, a sign of a new downturn. Sales were also 4.5 per cent lower than in December 2024, and new listings fell two per cent from November, the…
