ETA Canada Travel Pass News

A stabbing occurred in broad daylight in the heart of downtown Vancouver. According to a statement from the Vancouver Police Department, at around 3:15 pm on November 17th, a report was received that a man had been stabbed at Granville Street and Helmcken Street. The man was taken to hospital but died. The victim’s identity is currently unknown, and no suspects have been arrested.

According to a report in the CBC News online edition, police believe the incident was not a random attack and that there was some kind of relationship between the victim and the assailant.

The incident occurred in the Granville Street Entertainment District; a bustling downtown area lined with bars and nightclubs. Following the incident, the Hospitality Vancouver Association (HVA), an industry group representing Vancouver’s night-time economy, released a statement.

According to a statement released by the HVA the day after the incident, the man was stabbed across from the Luugat SRO on Granville Street. SROs are single-person housing units introduced by the British Columbia (BC) government to support homeless people, and the provincial government opened Luugat SRO in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the SRO has since experienced a series of problems, including fires.

The HVA claims that violence, trespassing, and street drug use in the area have reached unacceptable levels and is calling for the immediate closure of the three SROs along Granville Street.

The state government announced on November 8 that Luugat SRO will be closed by June 2026. However, it has not yet been decided where the residents will be relocated.

The budget announced by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney on November 4th was approved by Parliament on the 17th. It includes investment plans and spending cuts to promote growth and productivity amid trade uncertainty and an economic slowdown.

The Carney administration has placed a strong emphasis on economic growth and competitiveness, including allowing businesses to quickly depreciate a larger portion of their capital investments, creating new deductions for manufacturing and processing facility buildings, and new capital cost deductions for liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment and buildings.

During the presidential election, Prime Minister Carney also pledged to speed up domestic projects. He pledged to inject $214 million over the next five years into the Major Projects Office (MPO), which is already operational and is the core of this initiative. He also pledged to take the approval of critical mineral projects to the next level, and to shorten the construction of a high-speed rail line between Toronto, Ontario, and Quebec City, Quebec, from the previous eight-year plan to four years. He also pledged to invest $51 billion over the next 10 years in regional infrastructure development, including housing, roads, water supply, and medical facilities.

One item that drew attention was the significant expansion of defence spending. Prime Minister Carney has already pledged to increase defence spending by $9.3 billion to meet the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) target of 2% of GDP by March 31, and a further 5% by 2035. The 2025 budget allocates $81.8 billion to defence over the next five years, of which approximately $72 billion will be new spending.

The deficit is expected to reach $78 billion in fiscal 2025, far exceeding the $42 billion promised by the former Trudeau Liberal government. It is planned to gradually reduce it to $65 billion the following year and to $57 billion in fiscal 2029, with the aim of balancing operating expenses within three years. The government also plans to incur new spending of $141 billion over the next five years, but some of this is expected to be offset by spending cuts and other measures.

Government size will be reduced through spending cuts. The government’s ongoing cuts in daily operating costs are expected to result in annual spending reductions of $13 billion by fiscal year 2028. Additionally, the number of civil servants will be reduced by approximately 40,000 over the next few years.

He said he would invest more taxpayer money in “nation-building infrastructure, clean energy, and innovation” and protect the social security system.

On the other hand, some of the measures to address environmental issues have been abolished, such as the abolition of greenhouse gas emission restrictions on companies and the elimination of the budget for reforestation.

In terms of immigration policy, against the backdrop of housing problems and pressure on the healthcare system, the government will drastically reduce the number of new temporary residents admitted from 673,650 (2025) to 385,000 (2026). On the other hand, it will introduce a temporary measure to transition up to 33,000 work visa holders to permanent residency in 2026 and 2027, citing them as “critical players who have deep roots in local communities, pay taxes, and support the Canadian economy.”

On November 10, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced that Canada had lost its measles-free country certification.

The decision follows a review by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which confirmed that persistent measles transmission caused by the same strain of measles virus has been occurring in Canada for more than a year.

According to a statement from PHAC, a measles outbreak in Canada began in October 2024 and has spread to nine provinces and one territory, including British Columbia (BC). Although the pace of infection has slowed somewhat recently, the outbreak continues, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates.

As of November 10, 2025, there have been 5,162 cases of COVID-19 in Canada. The highest number of cases is in Ontario with 2,393, followed by Alberta with 1,946 and British Columbia with 336.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), there had been nine cases in British Columbia as of November 6. Dr. Martin Lavoie, British Columbia’s deputy chief medical officer, told CBC News Online that most cases in the province are in the north of the province, and that 96 per cent of those infected have not been fully vaccinated.

In Canada, there were zero cases of infection from 2020 to 2023, and 147 cases in 2024. In 2025, cases were confirmed from January, but the number surged in the spring.

Experts say the main reason for the surge is the low vaccination rate, which could be due to an increase in people refusing to get vaccinated for various reasons, including distrust of vaccines and religious beliefs.　PHAC is currently working with PAHO and federal, state, and territory governments to improve vaccination rates and strengthen data sharing. To regain measles-free status, a country must interrupt the chain of transmission of the same strain of measles virus within the country for at least 12 months.

On November 12, the British Columbia (BC) government announced the introduction of new rules regarding “sick notes” in the workplace, which came into effect immediately.

The regulations limit employers’ ability to request sick leave certificates from employees. Specifically, they cannot request sick leave certificates for short-term sick leave of five consecutive days or less on the first two occasions in a year (January 1st to December 31st). Absences due to health reasons include illness or injury of a close family member. The regulations apply to all employers under the Employment Standards Act.

According to a statement from the British Columbia government, this is part of an effort to reduce administrative burdens on medical facilities and improve the functioning of the medical system. Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside said, “If you have the flu or your child has a cold, you shouldn’t have to go to the hospital to get a ‘sick card,'” noting that unnecessary visits to the hospital take up time from doctors and nurses and increase the risk of spreading the disease. She explained that the new rules will allow medical professionals to focus on treating patients and reduce the time and financial costs for employers.

The government emphasized that the move was based on input from medical professionals and is based on scientific evidence that most mild illnesses in adults, such as colds and flu, improve within five days.

In the local elections held in Quebec on November 2nd, Soraya Martinez Ferrada was elected mayor of Montreal, the largest city in the province. Having fled Chile at the age of eight, she became the first Latin American mayor of the city.

Former Mayor Valérie Plante, who served two terms for eight years, had indicated she would not run for a third term. Luc Labouin, leader of the ProJet Montreal Party, who succeeded Plante as Mayor, came in second.

Martinez-Ferrada will resign from his federal seat in February 2025 to run for leader of Ensemble Montreal, the former municipal party led by former Mayor Denis Coderre. During his time as a federal MP, he also served as Minister of Tourism in the Justin Trudeau government.

Canada’s second-largest city has a new mayor, but many problems remain. A strike by maintenance workers at the STM public transportation system has been ongoing since November 1st. STM Metro (subway) and bus services are currently limited, and if labour negotiations are not concluded, the strike will continue until November 28th. In addition, the labour unions for bus drivers and Metro operation managers have announced that they will go on strike for two days, on November 15th and 16th.

Martinez Ferrada met with both the STM and the union on the 5th and told them to conclude negotiations within 10 days.

Montreal also faces other problems that the previous mayor was unable to resolve, such as housing and road conditions.

Montreal is a sister city of Hiroshima, and a commemorative ceremony is held every year on August 5th (August 6th Japan time) in the Japanese garden of the Montreal Botanical Garden. Former Mayor Correde was proactive in strengthening ties with Japan, so expectations are high for Martinez-Ferrada as well.

British Columbia (BC) Premier David Eby announced on November 3rd that the province would cancel an “anti-tariff” digital advertising campaign that was scheduled to launch in the United States this month.　The background to this is that US President Donald Trump ended trade negotiations with Canada due to anti-tariff ads by the Ontario government aimed at the US, and Trump has now threatened to raise tariffs on Canada by another 10% if the Ontario ads are not immediately removed.

Even after the negotiations were terminated, Premier Eby maintained his firm stance that BC’s advertising plan would continue. The BC ad was intended to protest the US’s tariff hike on lumber, and was different in content from the Ontario ad.

The announcement of the cancellation of the ads was made at a press conference following a meeting with federal forestry ministers in Vancouver. The meeting was attended by Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Canada-US Trade, among others.

Premier Eby stated, “I understand that the reaction to Ontario’s ads has caused concern among many stakeholders, including the federal government,” and stated that going forward, the province will coordinate its public relations efforts with the federal government and will no longer run ads on its own.

The government also announced that the change in policy was a decision of the provincial government, not a request from Minister Leblanc, and that the federal government has promised to work in tandem with the provincial government in supporting the forestry industry.

A tentative agreement was reached on October 26th in labour negotiations between the British Columbia (BC) government and the British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU). The agreement includes a 3% wage increase each year for four years, as well as improved benefits and stronger job security. A vote on approval by union members is scheduled to take place next week.

In response, the BCGEU suspended an eight-week strike by its approximately 25,000 members. From the 27th, BC Liquor Stores and liquor distribution warehouses resumed operations.

This is good news for the restaurant industry, which has been unable to procure alcohol, but the impact of the longest strike in British Columbia’s history as a public servant has been significant, and it will likely take some time for the entire system to return to normal.

Ian Tostenson, president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservice Association, welcomes the agreement, but believes that disruption will be unavoidable for the time being. Speaking to Global News Online, he said that there are currently about 800,000 cases of inventory waiting to be distributed. He added that during the previous two-week strike in 2022, it took three months for supplies to be fully restored. “This time, with Christmas and New Year’s coming up, we’re aiming for a recovery within three weeks,” he said.

On October 28, British Columbia (BC) announced that construction has begun in the provincial capital, Victoria, on a memorial park to honour Japanese Canadians in the province who were forcibly relocated, had their land and property confiscated, and were interned during World War II.

The memorial park, being developed in collaboration with the Japanese Canadian Heritage Society (JCLS), is located just south of St. Ann’s Academy National Historic Site in Victoria, within walking distance of the Parliament Buildings and Beacon Hill Park.

The park’s centre piece will be a wall-shaped memorial that will feature the names of approximately 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were forced to leave their homes in British Columbia in the 1940s. Many of them were born in Canada, but the memorial will also include the names of 3,000 people born after the forced removal. A Japanese-style garden will be built around the wall, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2026.

The project is part of a $100 million redress package announced by British Columbia in May 2022. In a statement, British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma called the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Canadians “a grave injustice in which the government failed in its duty to protect the rights and dignity of these people,” and said that the construction of the park is an effort to honour the Japanese Canadians who overcame hardship, prevent history from fading, and learn from the past for the future.

“By honouring our Japanese American ancestors, we reconnect their names to the communities they once called home and heal intergenerational wounds,” JCLS CEO Suzanne Tabata said in a statement.

A high-speed passenger ferry has collided with a humpback whale in English Bay, Vancouver, Canada, according to multiple media reports, according to an announcement by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) on October 18.

The whale involved in the collision was a passenger ferry operated by Hello Ferries, which operates a high-speed passenger ferry service between downtown Vancouver and Nanaimo. According to reports, Hello Ferries reported the accident to the DFO and is fully cooperating with the DFO investigation. The whale was spotted swimming north after colliding with the ferry on the 17th.

The ferry’s operator, the Vancouver Island Ferry Company, said its vessel, the Sphers, “likely came into contact with a whale” during a routine operation. The crew took immediate evasive action upon spotting the whale and performed an emergency stop in accordance with safety procedures.

Later, on the 21st, the Pacific Whale Watch Association posted on social media that a baby humpback whale named “Skipper” had a split dorsal fin in a photo taken on the 20th, but not on the 16th, and that the situation suggested it had been hit by a ferry.

In September, a BC Ferries vessel was suspected of colliding with a humpback whale about 130 kilometres southeast of Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia, after a dead whale was found in the same area the following day.

A retired SkyTrain train is set to make its comeback in the film industry.

The first SkyTrain car, the Mark I, with its white body and red and blue stripes, has been used by Metro Vancouver residents for about 40 years since 1986. With the partial retirement of the Mark I cars, TransLink, which manages and operates Metro Vancouver’s public transportation system, has been accepting applications for a “retirement plan” for the cars since last year.

TransLink announced on October 21st that the Mark I was being repurposed by Langley Township film studio Lumostage Virtual Productions as a film and television set designed to resemble a New York subway car.

According to Lumostage’s Chief Operating Officer, Angus Luk-Ramsay, it has previously been difficult to film subway scenes in British Columbia (BC), but “with the help of TransLink and our talented film engineers and artists, we were able to transform a retired SkyTrain car into an interactive subway set suitable for filming, making BC an even more attractive location for film and commercial productions.”

The company’s website features images of the redesigned Mark I, with its silver exterior and colourful orange and yellow seats. The subway set is seamlessly integrated with LED volumes, allowing for realistic car movement and an immersive tunnel environment.

TransLink continues to accept ideas for reusing Mark I vehicles. Companies, organizations, and individuals are welcome to apply online (https://portal.us.bn.cloud.ariba.com/discovery/public/rfx/23515773/preview).

Purchasers will be responsible for the cost of moving the vehicle from its depot in Metro Vancouver and the costs of any proposed reuse. Applications are open until November 28th but will be accepted again after that when the vehicle is retired.