ETA Canada Travel Pass News

To protect people from the summer heatwaves, the New Westminster City Council, located near Vancouver, unanimously passed a new ordinance on March 30.

The ordinance now requires landlords of rental apartments to maintain an average room temperature of 26°C or below in at least one room within a unit from 8 PM to 8 AM the following morning. Speaking to the city council about the new ordinance, Nadine Nakagawa mentioned the 2021 heatwave (heat dome), stating that heat domes are possible again in the future, and that “the most dangerous places should not be people’s homes.”

At the end of June 2021, British Columbia (BC) was hit by an unprecedented heat dome. Temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius were recorded in many areas, and high temperatures continued even at night. According to the BC Coroner’s Office, 619 people died in the heatwave, including 33 in the city.

According to City Councillor Nakagawa, many of the deceased in the city lived in older rental housing, and it was the area with the highest death toll per capita during the heat dome event. The new ordinance allows landlords to be fined up to $750 if they fail to maintain a safe room temperature. However, there is no deadline set for taking the necessary measures.

The city of Vancouver announced on March 4th that it will close Granville Street in downtown Vancouver to traffic during the FIFA World Cup. The closure will run from June 11th, when the World Cup begins, until July 20th, after the tournament concludes. Five blocks of Granville Street, from Georgia Street to Davie Street, will be closed to traffic.

During the event, benches, patios, live music and cultural events, and photogenic spots will be available. TransLink buses operating on this section will run along Seymour Street and Howe Street during this period, with temporary bus stops set up. However, vehicle traffic will remain permitted at the intersections of Robson, Smith, Nelson, and Helmken Streets where they intersect with Granville.

The city has announced that although this initiative will only be implemented during the World Cup, it will serve as an important pilot program toward realizing the “Granville Street Project,” which aims to transform Granville Street into a safer and more vibrant place in the future. After the World Cup, the route will revert to bus service.

The British Columbia (BC) provincial government and the City of Vancouver held a press conference on March 17 regarding attending matches at the FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver venue, which will be used to enjoy this year’s FIFA World Cup.

At the Fan Festival Vancouver, where the PNE will be held, the games will be broadcast live in an amphitheatre equipped with a large screen for viewing. According to both governments, 10,000 seats will be available in the theatre, of which 2,600 will be in the general admission area (floor area) and will be free of charge. Entry will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The remaining 7,400 seats will be sold as “premium” tickets, which will include access to a dedicated priority entrance lane.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and British Columbia Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Ann Khan, who held a press conference that day, only stated that they would not disclose the price of the paid seats and would announce it later. In addition to watching the game, the fan festival will offer cultural programs showcasing the diversity and creativity of Vancouver and British Columbia, as well as food culture from various parts of BC and live performances.

Live performances are scheduled for all 28 days of the event. According to the state and city, admission to the festival venue at Hastings Park in the PNE will be free. Further details can be found on the FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver website. TransLink announced on March 3rd that they will be operating shuttle buses to the venue.

The British Columbia (BC) provincial government announced on March 18 that a legal amendment has significantly increased the maximum amount of damages that victims of the misuse of sexually explicit images can claim through the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT). The limit has increased from $5,000 to $75,000, a 14-fold increase. The amendment is already in effect.

The law that was amended is the Intimate Images Protection Act, which came into effect in 2024. This law provides a mechanism for people whose sexual images have been shared without their consent to be redressed without having to go through lengthy and expensive court cases.

Victims can use the CRT to file requests for “removal of images from the internet,” “cessation of further dissemination and threats of dissemination,” and “claims for damages against individuals, social media companies, and websites that shared or threatened to share the images.”

This also applies to manipulated images, such as AI-generated deepfake images. According to a BC provincial government news release, the CRT has resolved 389 out of 486 cases since the law came into effect. The remaining cases are still in progress.

British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma issued a statement saying, “Raising the damages cap to $75,000 sends a clear message that sharing non-consensual sexual images is never acceptable in BC and has serious consequences.” She emphasized that the law has produced tangible results for victims of sexual violence and that this amendment is a step towards ensuring victims receive fair redress.

Gasoline prices in Canada are soaring. According to the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), the national average price on March 20 was $1.685 per litre. This is an increase of about 13 cents from last week’s average of $1.557 and about 40 cents from $1.291 a month ago.

According to GasBuddy, which surveys and provides information on gasoline prices nationwide, as of March 20, the highest price nationwide was $2.051 in the Northwest Territories, followed by British Columbia (BC) at $1.924. Quebec was at $1.794, Ontario at $1.641, and the cheapest was Alberta at $1.567. According to CBC data, the highest average rent in major cities is in Victoria, British Columbia, at $2.103, followed by Vancouver at $2.083.

Toronto is at $1.647, Montreal at $1.830, and Calgary at $1.632. The sharp rise in gasoline prices is largely due to the surge in crude oil prices caused by tensions in the Middle East following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, but it is also attributed to seasonal factors such as preparations for switching to summer gasoline and increased demand.

It has been pointed out that prices may continue to rise depending on the situation in the Middle East. The surge in gasoline prices is causing increases in transportation costs and other expenses, leading to inflation. The Consumer Price Index for February, released by Statistics Canada on March 16, rose by 1.8% year-on-year, and this is expected to have an impact on inflation in the coming months.

When a bank account has insufficient funds and payments such as checks or automatic withdrawals cannot be processed, banks charge customers a fee called a “non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee.” A new cap rule on these NSF fees, established by the Canadian government, came into effect on March 12th.

Under the new rules, the maximum NSF fee will be reduced from $50 to $10. Additionally, banks cannot charge NSF fees to a single account multiple times within two business days. Furthermore, banks are prohibited from charging NSF fees if the account balance is less than $10.

Federal Finance and Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne stated, “A $5 shortfall in a payment can result in a $50 NSF fee. That money could otherwise be used for things like food or medical expenses,” adding that lowering NSF fees would strengthen consumer protection.

According to a government news release, approximately one in three people pay NSF fees annually, which is an excessive burden, especially for those struggling to make ends meet each month. The new measures are expected to reduce the burden by approximately $600 million annually.

Police in British Columbia (BC) are warning residents about counterfeit money circulating in several communities. On March 2, the North Vancouver RCMP revealed an increase in counterfeit $50 and $100 bills in the city. They stated that there had been at least 11 reports of sophisticated counterfeit bills being used at multiple stores in the past two months.

The announcement listed the following characteristics of the seized counterfeit bills: “They all have the same serial number,” “They are made of plastic material like genuine banknotes,” and “They have hologram stickers that mimic genuine banknotes.”

Earlier, on February 26, the Nanaimo RCMP issued a similar statement, citing at least 17 reports of counterfeit money use in Nanaimo, a city close to Metro Vancouver. Furthermore, according to reports on March 12, $11,000 worth of counterfeit bills were seized at a supermarket in New Westminster.

New Westminster police revealed that a man was attempting to use the counterfeit money when staff noticed the suspicious bills and called the police. Just on March 9, police in New Westminster had issued a warning about the widespread circulation of counterfeit money.

Counterfeit money is reportedly on the rise not only in Metro Vancouver but throughout the country. It was also reported that counterfeit money was being used in various parts of the country during last year’s Christmas shopping season.

North Vancouver RCMP Sergeant Mansall Sahak stated, “In Canada, using or possessing counterfeit money knowing it is counterfeit is a criminal offense. If you unknowingly accept counterfeit money as legitimate payment, you will not be compensated for the loss.”

He urged businesses to always verify that any cash payments they receive are in legitimate currency. Information on how to spot counterfeit money can be found on the Bank of Canada website: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/counterfeit-prevention/

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Shock ran around the world, but the Iranian Canadian community in Vancouver, Canada, rejoiced. On the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On March 1, many people were seen walking around carrying the Iranian flag, which features green, white, and red horizontal stripes with a sun and a lion holding swords in the centre, as well as placards that read “Make Iran Great Again.”

Some people honked their horns when they saw the flag. They were Iranian Canadian people, and they headed to David Lam Park in Vancouver’s Yaletown district, where the park was packed to the brim. Some people were carrying American and Israeli flags, as well as a large photo of former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who continues to live in exile in the United States.

“The moment we’ve been waiting for has finally come,” some said, while one man said in a voice that was somewhere between joy and a sigh, “47 years has been too long.” Demonstrations have been taking place on Saturdays since last month, with large demonstrations also taking place in Toronto and Montreal in Canada. However, many people have family and friends in Iran, and there were also voices expressing concern for their safety.

The Iranian national team has also been selected to participate in this year’s FIFA World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The team is set to play in the first round in the United States, and attention is focused on how the United States and FIFA will respond.

On March 3rd, Vancouver Police issued a warning about a series of apartment break-ins using hot glue. Hot glue is a type of adhesive. It is used by heating and melting a stick of resin using a tool called a glue gun. When the resin cools, it hardens and bonds things together.

Police have revealed that the suspect’s modus operandi is to first break into an apartment late at night and apply hot glue to connect the top of the front door to the door frame with a thin thread. When the resident returns home and opens the door, the glue thread breaks. However, if the resident is not home, the glue thread remains unbroken, indicating that the resident is not home.

It is believed that the suspect would break into the apartment again within a few days of applying the glue and enter a room where the glue was still present. The incidents were reported between August 9 and December 24, 2025. To date, a total of 10 units has been affected, including five apartment buildings in Vancouver and one in Burnaby.

Police say the suspects target older apartment buildings with poor security, specifically those with poorly secured stairwell doors and no security cameras. Similar break-ins have also occurred in Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta.

The shooting incident in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia (BC), which left eight people dead, has sparked controversy over the fact that the suspect’s ChatGPT account had been frozen before the incident, and that OpenAI, the developer, did not report this to the police.

The Wall Street Journal reported on February 20th that OpenAI had suspended the ChatGPT account of suspect Jesse Van Reutzeler (who died after the shooting) in June of last year. The reason for the suspension was said to be posts about gun violence. However, the company did not report the incident to the police, citing its criteria at the time as “not credible and not an imminent criminal plan.”

In response to this, Canadian Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon, along with other relevant ministers, met with OpenAI executives in Ottawa on the 24th. After the meeting, Minister Solomon told reporters he was “disappointed.” Furthermore, on the 26th, Anne O’Leary, the company’s vice president of global policy, revealed in an open letter that a second ChatGPT account in the suspect’s name had been discovered after the incident, and that this account had been reported to police.

The letter states that the company has been strengthening its law enforcement reporting protocols for several months and is currently working to establish a direct line of communication with Canadian law enforcement, strengthen its model for connecting users with local mental health support when needed, and improve its detection systems to identify repeat violators of its policies. However, in a statement on the 27th, Minister Solomon expressed dissatisfaction, saying that while he appreciated the company’s enthusiasm for the measures it presented, “we have yet to see a concrete plan for how to implement them.”

He said he plans to meet with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, and sounded the alarm that legislation regarding AI needs to be rushed. British Columbia Premier David Eby is also scheduled to meet with Sam Altman. On the 20th, the premier released a statement saying, “The reports that OpenAI had relevant information prior to the incident are extremely shocking to the families of the victims and all British Columbia residents.”