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Alberta will switch over to federal COVID-19 notification app – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

August 9, 2020

Alberta will switch from its provincial COVID-19 notification app to the national app.

The move, first reported by the Globe and Mail, was confirmed to CBC News by a spokesperson for the province’s health minister on Saturday.

Alberta’s contact tracing mobile app, ABTraceTogether, was unveiled on May 1. It was the first of its kind to be unveiled in Canada and was based on a similar app used in Singapore.

The application uses Bluetooth technology to determine if a user has come into contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and notify them, so they can self-isolate and prevent further spread of the virus.

But the app had technical difficulties, like the fact that it doesn’t function on iPhones unless the app is open and the phone is unlocked.

In mid-July, Premier Jason Kenney accused the federal government of preventing Alberta from working with Apple and Google to fix the app’s problems. But Ottawa said that was because its national app was in the works. That app, COVID Alert, was launched on July 31 for the province of Ontario, with other provinces to come.

Apple and Google have said they are restricting use of their technology to one app per country, to avoid creating a patchwork of apps and to promote their use.

The spokesperson for Alberta’s health minister said details are yet to be confirmed as to how the app will be adopted in the province.

But the federal COVID Alert website said it encourages those outside of Ontario to download the app, so when people in their area are able to report a diagnosis, users will be notified if they were nearby.

The website also states that COVID Alert is voluntary, and does not track a user’s location or collect personal information. The federal privacy commissioner’s office was consulted on its development.

It uses Bluetooth technology, and runs in the background of a phone. If two people are within two metres of each other for more than 15 minutes, the app records a potential exposure. If someone with the app is diagnosed with COVID-19, they can choose to record that in the app. The app would then notify people that person came into contact with — without telling the users who the person was who tested positive.

Alberta’s app had 234,462 registered users as of Thursday, or about five per cent of the province’s population. More than 1.18 million Canadians had downloaded the federal app as of Aug. 2.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

Published

3 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

Published

3 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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Canada Goose reports Q2 revenue down from year ago, trims full-year guidance

Published

3 hours ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.

The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.

Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.

It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GOOS)

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