B.C. job seekers head to to MOSAIC job fair to network, explore opportunities
The annual MOSAIC job fair in New Westminster is an all day event where job seekers can network and explore work opportunities in the province. March figures from Statistics Canada show that B.C's employment rate had a small gain compare to the month before. And in January, official figures showed youth unemployment is on the rise.
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Winnipeg Free Press
27 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Prime Minister Carney in Brussels today for EU-Canada summit
BRUSSELS – Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Belgium today, where he visited a military cemetery before meeting with European Union leaders at an EU-Canada summit. Carney said on social media Sunday that he was in Brussels to launch 'a new era of partnership' between Canada and the European Union for the benefit of workers, businesses and security 'on both sides of the Atlantic.' Carney started the day with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. Later, he is expected to meet with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Carney posted on social media early on Monday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump overnight, noting the conversation addressed the need to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East, their shared commitment of a stronger NATO and progress in ongoing trade talks between Canada and the United States. At the EU-Canada summit, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Defence Minister David McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the European bloc in what one European official described last week as one of the most ambitious deals the continent's powers have ever signed with a third country. The security and defence agreement aims to open the door to Canada's participation in the joint purchase of weapons with European countries. It will also lead to Canada's participation in the ReArm Europe initiative, allowing Canada to access a 150-billion-euro program for defence procurement, called Security Action for Europe. Canada will need to sign a second agreement with the European Commission before it can take part in the program. A government official briefing reporters on the trip said the partnership is expected to make procurement easier and more affordable, while also allowing Canada to diversify the sources of equipment. At the EU-Canada summit, leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement to underscore a willingness for continued pressure on Russia to end its war on Ukraine, including through further sanctions, and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The joint statement is also expected to touch on climate change, trade and digital and tech policy. Leaders at the EU-Canada summit are also slated to discuss global trade and commit to working towards full ratification and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Canada-Europe free trade deal known as CETA. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The pact took effect provisionally in 2017, and most of its contents now apply. But all EU countries need to approve CETA before it can take full effect, with 10 members still left to ratify the deal. Carney, Costa and von der Leyen are scheduled to hold a joint press conference in the evening. On Tuesday, Carney travels to The Hague for the NATO summit. The international meetings come as Canada looks to reduce its defence procurement reliance on the United States due to strained relations over tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated talk about Canada becoming a U.S. state. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Ontario needs to build more than 2 million homes in the next decade: internal docs
Ontario's target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 may not be enough to meet demand, civil servants have told the province's new municipal affairs minister, saying that 2.1 million homes could instead be needed to improve affordability. The estimates come in briefing materials provided to Minister Rob Flack, as he took on the new portfolio in March. The document, obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request, suggests the range of new homes Ontario needs could be as much as 600,000 higher than the current target set by the Progressive Conservative government. "It is estimated that between 1.5 million to 2.1 million new homes will need to be built in Ontario over roughly the next decade, based on assessments of the current housing supply shortfall and/or projected population growth," the public servants wrote. The government set its 1.5 million home target in 2022 after its housing task force recommended the goal. The civil servants say they drew the high end estimates from a 2023 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation look at the housing demand and supply gap, which they say takes into account what it would require to bring the market to 2003 levels of affordability. The briefing document also charts an approximately 1.2 million person surge in the province's population since 2021, which has contributed to housing needs. During that same period, it notes home starts have been on a steady decline, not hitting the yearly 100,000 required to meet the government's target. "Plans for new supply have been challenged by high land and material costs, government fees and charges, shortages of skilled trades labour, labour disputes, supply chain issues and a backlog in housing-enabling municipal infrastructure," the civil servants wrote. Ontario government tables new bill aimed at solving housing crisis 1 month ago Duration 2:37 A spokesperson for the minister did not directly answer questions about the higher housing demand range provided by the civil servants. Instead, Alexandra Sanita said in a statement that the government is spending $2.3 million over four years to help municipalities build the infrastructure they need for new homes. Earlier this month, the province passed its latest measures to accelerate home construction, Bill 17. The law allows builders to defer development charges until completion of a project and reduces the number of municipal studies required for new housing. During the news event to announce the bill, Flack didn't mention the 1.5 million home goal until he was asked about it by CBC News. "It's a goal, but frankly I'm more focused, and our team is focused more, on the next 12 to 24 months, because if it stays the way it is now, we'll never get there," he responded. "But is it forgotten? No way." Opposition calls for analysis of government housing plans Last week, Ontario's Financial Accountability Office released an economic update which highlighted the continued drop in housing construction. It found that 12,700 units were started in Ontario during the first three months of the year, a 20 per cent drop from the 15,900 units started in the first quarter of 2024. NDP housing critic Catherine McKenney has called on the watchdog to dig into the government's housing plan. "We really need to hear from this government," she said. "Is housing still a priority?" Ontario needs to hit the high end of the housing range provided by the civil service and do that by getting back in the business of building deeply affordable, non-profit, co-op and supportive housing, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said. "It is increasingly being confirmed that the Ford government has abandoned building homes people can afford," he said. Housing targets 'in no danger' of being reached, experts say Richard Lyall, president of Residential Construction Council of Ontario, said he would support an increased target to 2.1 million homes, but at the current rate, the province won't even come close to hitting its original goal because its plan hasn't been effective. All governments need to lower fees for builders, he said. "Whether it's the federal target, provincial target, City of Toronto target, they're in no danger of being hit," he said. "And part of that is because when you set a target like that you have to break it down and work it backwards.'" All levels of government should focus on building more modular homes, cutting municipal development charges, making cities whole for lost revenue, and freeing up public lands for housing at a low cost or for free, said Karen Chapple, director of the University of Toronto's School of Cities. But Chapple said the province needs to be realistic about its housing targets. "People just kind of laugh now at that 1.5 million target," she said. York University professor of environmental and urban change Mark Winfield is skeptical of the government's 1.5 million home housing target because it doesn't break down types of housing required in the province. With cuts to federal immigration levels, declining home sales and a glut of unsold condos on the market, it's time for the government to rethink its strategy, he said. WATCH | Understanding the condo market: Why the condo market is plummeting during a housing crisis 1 month ago Duration 5:59 The condo market in two of Canada's big cities has taken a major downturn. CBC's Nisha Patel breaks down three reasons why condos aren't selling in the middle of a housing crisis. "I find it a little hard to compute how you could possibly come up with those kinds of numbers, and indeed, how you could possibly build that many housing units if you wanted to," Winfield said. While home sales and interest rates have dropped and increased affordability for buyers, this might be temporary, said Jason Mercer, chief information officer for the Toronto and Region Real Estate Board. "At some point down the road, we're going to see the demand for housing pick up," Mercer said.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Canada opens the door to deeper European defence and security partnership
Social Sharing Canada and Europe will be drawn a little closer together on Monday as Prime Minister Mark Carney signs a strategic defence and security partnership with the European Union. The agreement will open the door for Canadian companies to participate in the $1.25-trillion ReArm Europe program, which is seen as a step toward making Canada less reliant on — and less vulnerable to — the whims of the United States. Eventually, it will also help the Canadian government partner with other allied nations to buy military equipment under what's known as the SAFE program. Further talks and agreements will be needed before both of those aspects become reality. Carney has been signalling for months that his government is unhappy with spending as much as 70 per cent of its military equipment appropriation on U.S.-made gear. Other non-EU nations, including the United Kingdom, have already struck their own strategic agreements. Australia signalled last week it has started negotiations on a deal with Europe. WATCH | Canada looks to partner with defence companies outside U.S.: How can Canada reduce its military dependence on the U.S.? 22 days ago Duration 9:25 Much of the focus has been on the joint equipment procurement aspects of the impending deal. However, the U.K.'s agreement, made public on May 19, establishes a series of institutional links for crisis management, maritime security and cybersecurity. It is nowhere near as comprehensive as the NATO alliance. But given the growing uncertainty over the reliability of the Trump administration, the partnership is important. "It could complement NATO. It's not necessarily a substitute," said Stephen Saideman, who holds the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. "It makes sense to work with the Europeans as much as we can on defence," he said. "Maybe if we do this kind of thing, NATO can live even if the United States pulls out." NATO spending to be debated Carney will be attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in The Hague, in the Netherlands, almost immediately after signing the defence and security deal with the EU The 32-member Western military alliance is set to debate raising the defence spending benchmark to a combined five per cent of a country's gross domestic product (3.5 per cent for direct military spending and an additional 1.5 per cent for defence infrastructure). Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ont., said the way the defence partnership and the ReArm Europe program are set up, they could not be considered a replacement for NATO because there's no operational military aspect to the individual arrangements. However, a significant aspect of the U.K. deal involves strengthening co-operation through "exchanges on situational awareness and threat assessments in areas of common interest, including classified information." The agreement goes on to say that "the U.K. and the EU will explore additional measures to ensure that classified information can be exchanged swiftly, safely and effectively" in accordance with Britain's security of information laws. That's significant because the U.K. — like Canada — is part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network that includes the United States. It remains unclear, at the moment, whether Canada's deal will contain similar provisions. Leuprecht describes ReArm Europe as a "cartel" with a mission to drive down prices of military equipment through collective procurement. A big component of the EU scheme is the SAFE loan program that allows member countries to borrow funds for military equipment at more favourable rates than direct national borrowing. It's intended for smaller countries with less fiscal capacity and lower credit ratings, Leuprecht said. Canada wouldn't necessarily have access to that $235-billion fund, he added. The exception might be if a non-EU country that needs the funds — for example, Ukraine (which is part of the overall program) — is required to tap into it. There are rules to the loan program that encourage members to buy European and partner equipment.
