105.9 The Region

TORONTO — Experts say Ottawa’s changes to mortgage rules could help spur demand among potential homebuyers, but supply challenges are likely to persist in Canada’s real estate sector despite lofty goals to build new housing. The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow […]

OTTAWA — Canada is in consultations with the U.K., the U.S. and Australia about possible collaboration in the security pact known as AUKUS. The trilateral deal was struck three years ago in an effort to boost security in the Indo-Pacific region by building a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. Some Canadian military leaders have […]

TORONTO — Faith leaders are calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to reverse course on his decision to close 10 supervised consumption sites across the province. A number of religious organizations came to Queen’s Park on Tuesday and said they were hopeful they could reach Ford’s “humanity.” Last month, Health Minister Sylvia Jones outlined a […]

OTTAWA — Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner. It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary […]

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season. The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena. The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor […]

OTTAWA — Inflation finally hit the Bank of Canada’s two per cent target in August after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth, raising the odds of larger interest rate cuts in the coming months. Canada’s annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021. The […]

OTTAWA — Inflation has come down from its highs, and groceries are no exception. Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday that grocery prices in August rose 2.4 per cent from the year before, a far cry from their peak of 11.4 per cent in late 2022 and early 2023. Overall annual inflation was two per cent […]

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada has changed the way it tracks the price of wireless plans in an effort to capture a more accurate picture of what Canadians are paying when it calculates the inflation rate. The agency has been using web-collected data on the advertised cost of plans based on a set of profiles designed […]

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 […]

TORONTO — Health Canada has authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus. The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron. It will replace the previous version of the vaccine that was released a year ago, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of […]