ZEBALLOS, B.C. - The Fisheries Department says its monitoring and patrolling ocean waters off northwest Vancouver Island to ensure boat traffic doesn't interfere with an orphan killer whale calf's ability to reunite with her extended family. The Fisheries Department says in a statement it will be monitoring the locatio...

SURREY, B.C. - Homicide police in British Columbia say they will be providing a "significant update" on the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, amid reports that arrests have been made in the case. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has been informed about the update by the RCMP in the ...

CARIBOO, B.C. - B.C. libraries have been targeted by a hacker who demanded a ransom or they would release user data that includes the phone numbers and email addresses of some clients. The Cariboo Regional District says its library was among those involved, and data was obtained about users who received automated notif...

VANCOUVER - Canada's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel will officially be brought into the Pacific fleet today and Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles, is scheduled to take part in its commissioning ceremony. A news release says Anne will be attending the ceremony in her role as commodore-in-chief for the ...

VANCOUVER - Lawyers for the Surrey Police Union say officers were subjected to harassment and disrespect by members of the Surrey RCMP, only to be left in a "jurisdictional void" when both federal and British Columbia bodies declined to investigate their allegations. The claims that Surrey Police Service off...

BURNABY, B.C. - A researcher at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University says the brains of older adults feel a sense of reward when listening to music, even if it's a song they don't particularly like. Sarah Faber says her work on how healthy brains respond to music as they age creates a baseline for future research...

VANCOUVER - Retailer London Drugs says it's rebuilding its data infrastructure with the help of leading third-party experts to bring its operations safely back online after a cybersecurity incident that has shut down stores for five days. The store says in a statement that there are billions of lines of data and code ...

VANCOUVER - Aritzia Inc. says its net income fell 35 per cent in its fourth quarter as its revenue grew. The Vancouver-based retailer says its net income for the period ended March 3 totalled $24.2 million compared with $37.3 million a year ago. Its net income amounted to 21 cents per diluted share compared with 32 ce...

VANCOUVER - A lawyer for B.C.'s Public Safety Ministry says the City of Surrey was given a pathway to retain the RCMP as its police force, but "made no effort at all" to meet conditions to do so. Trevor Bant told the B.C. Supreme Court that the city's plan to abandon a transition to the Surrey Police Service ...

QUESNEL, B.C. - Councillors in Quesnel, B.C., have voted unanimously to censure their mayor, saying his actions related to a book denying the harms of Canada's residential school system jeopardize the city's relationship with Indigenous communities. Coun. Scott Elliott made the motion, telling council that all the work...

VANCOUVER - A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international co-ordinator, who was arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation, was released with an order not to attend any protests for the next five months. The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network says Charlotte Kates was arrested by Vancouver ...

OTTAWA - Environmental groups are criticizing the Liberal government's planned amendments to the federal Impact Assessment Act. The groups said in a letter to cabinet ministers today that Ottawa isn't fulfilling its responsibility to protect Canadians from pollution. The government is seeking to limits the scope of the...

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called "misguided criticism" of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online. President and CEO Per Bank said at the grocer's annual meeting that there's a lot of misinformation online ...

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Pork markets are showing signs of improvement, said Maple Leaf Foods Inc. chief executive Curtis Frank, helping the company achieve a profit in its first quarter compared with a year ago even as sales edged lower. "Pork markets, while still compressed, now appears to be starting to show the se...

VANCOUVER - Greater Vancouver's real estate board says the number of homes that changed hands in April rose 3.3 per cent from the previous year, but total sales were still well below the 10-year average for the month. Greater Vancouver Realtors says there were 2,831 home sales in the region last month, compared with 2,...

VANCOUVER - London Drugs says its phone lines are working again after being taken offline in response to a cybersecurity incident. A statement from the Richmond, B.C.-based pharmacy and retail chain says Canada Post offices inside London Drugs stores are also up and running again. The company closed all of its stores ...

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. - Police in New Westminster, B.C., say they were called to a post-secondary school in the city when staff reported that a woman armed with a knife was inside the building. The woman was not a student at the institution and police say students and staff feared for their safety. Before police arri...

VICTORIA - British Columbia's hotel association says a new central booking portal will help speed up the process of finding places to stay for emergency evacuees. A statement says the system launching in June will provide provincial emergency support staff with live information on room availability, eliminating the nee...

LYTTON, B.C. - British Columbia's auditor general says his office is doing a review of the province's response to the 2021 wildfire that devastated the community of Lytton, B.C. Michael Pickup says in a video statement that the report will focus on the B.C. government's roles and responsibilities for disaster recovery,...

VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government is spending more money to recruit and retain health-science workers, especially those in rural and remote communities. Health Minister Adrian Dix says $155.7 million has been set aside at a time when B.C. has a "significantly increasing population" and more skilled...

VANCOUVER - Police say a 44-year-old woman has been arrested in a hate-crime investigation over a speech in Vancouver that praised the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. A statement from the Vancouver Police Department says the woman "referred to a number of terrorist organizations as heroes." More coming. Th...

SQUAMISH, B.C. - Plans to use a renovated cruise ship to house more than 600 workers as they build a liquefied natural gas facility near Squamish, B.C., have been voted down by the local council. The ship arrived in B.C. waters in January after a 40-day journey from Estonia, where it had sheltered Ukrainian refugees, b...

VICTORIA - B.C.'s auditor general has announced a probe into the ongoing efforts to rebuild the community of Lytton. In a video posted to YouTube Wednesday (May 1), Auditor General Michael Pickup says his investigation will focus on the government's role in the days since a June 2021 wildfire ravaged the village. "...

VICTORIA - Pro-Palestinian protesters have set up camp at a second university in British Columbia, with tents going up on a field at the University of Victoria. In an Instagram post, organizers Free Palestine BC says protesters are demanding the university "divest from all investments" connected to companies ...

RICHMOND, B.C. - A Transportation Safety Board report says experience, recent training and safety equipment were key factors in a pilot surviving the crash of a firefighting plane south of Cranbrook in August 2022. The report says the pilot was alone in the Air Tractor AT-802A aircraft and had just finished his eighth ...

VANCOUVER - Canfor Corp. says it has signed a deal with an affiliate of Domtar Corp. to buy its El Dorado lumber manufacturing facility in Arkansas for US$73 million. The facility in Union County, Ark., produces dimensional lumber and specialty wood products. Canfor says it expects production capacity at the mill to in...

SURREY, B.C. - British Columbia homicide investigators say a man from Surrey has been charged with aggravated assault in relation to one of two stabbings in White Rock, B.C. A statement from the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 28-year-old Dimitri Nelson Hyacinth has been charged over the alleged assault of ...

VANCOUVER - B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo says court documents detailing alleged bullying and harassment of Surrey Police Service members by the RCMP shouldn't be kept from the public. Loo refused to seal the material, saying allegations that are "sometimes justified and sometimes spurious," are tende...