National News

OTTAWA — As government agencies across Canada focus strained resources on protecting people from COVID-19, efforts to respond to freedom-of-information requests from the public are slowing or even stopping altogether.

MONTREAL — Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer says it has received government authorization to produce protective gear for medical staff and first responders.

TORONTO — The unrelenting climb in COVID-19 cases in Canada continued Thursday amid tightening restrictions aimed at curbing the pandemic as experts warned against prescribing or using unproven cures for the disease that has killed 39 people and infe

The regulatory body for Ontario's respiratory therapists is fast-tracking the certification of final-year students as officials warn the COVID-19 pandemic could stretch the medical field too thin.

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promoting a veteran of the international-trade trenches to be Canada's first permanent female envoy to the United States — just as a raging global pandemic tests the continent's cross-border resolve.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every province and territory. Medical officers of health and Canada's chief public health officer are encouraging people to wash their hands, give each other space and wear a mask if they're sick.

VICTORIA — British Columbia's conservation agency says a wolf that spent years alone roaming a tiny island off Victoria has been shot and killed.

OTTAWA — Canada and its G7 counterparts are concerned about the spread of disinformation in the COVID-19 fight, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Thursday, stressing the need for a co-ordinated world response based on science.

OTTAWA — The federal government is asking banks and credit-card companies to lower interest rates for Canadians, many of whom are struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces plans to withdraw the 200 troops it currently has in Ukraine and replace them with a skeleton force next month to hold the fort until the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.