BARRIE —
As Canada’s two most populous provinces grapple with a surge in COVID-19 cases, concerns are swirling over whether new restrictions could be imposed before the holidays.
On Saturday, 1,512 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Quebec, marking the highest single-day tally in the province since April.
A total of 1,234 new cases were reportedin the provinceon Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Ontario, 1,184 new cases were detected on Sunday, marking the province’s highest daily increase in six months.
On Tuesday, Ont.officials said 928 more people had tested positive for the virus.
Dr. Doug Manuel is a senior scientist in the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute’s clinical epidemiology program.
He told CTV’s Your Morning that in some places, the increase in case counts has already resulted in additional restrictions.
“You’re already seeing it in say Windsor-Essex – they’ve reduced their capacity in restaurants by 50 per cent,” Manuel said Tuesday.
He said in Ontario, a lot of the places hardest-hit are rural communities outside of the greater Toronto area.
“In many places across Canada, we’re getting cases above 100 cases per million per day,” Manuel said. “That’s often when public health can’t keep up anymore with contact tracing and starts to think about more restrictions.”
To date, 76 per cent of the Canadian population are vaccinated against the virus.
Asked whether the vaccination rate means Canada could see less extreme measures, should they be reintroduced, Manuel said it “helps tremendously.”
“We’re following Europe,” he said. “Europe has about the same vaccination rate as us and many countries, they opened up quite quickly later in the summer or in the fall, and their cases went up quickly, and now they’re imposing restrictions and some of those countries are imposing more severe restrictions than we have in Canada.”
Manuel said he “hasn’t seen” a country or jurisdiction “successfully make that transition with current vaccination rates.”
“But that doesn’t mean that we have to have full restriction like we’ve seen in the past,” he said.
Ultimately, Manuel said things are dependent on what happens with the Omicron variant.
The variant — first detected in South Africa — has caused global panic. Several countries, including Canada, have imposed more stringent travel restrictions in a bid to keep the disease outside of their borders.
However, by Monday, at least 23 cases of the Omicron variant had already been detected in Canada.
Manuel said he expects Omicron will “take over as the dominant strain worldwide, sooner than later.”
He said researchers are waiting for more data from South Africa, to determine whether those who have been infected with the Omicron variant experience more severe symptoms.
“The hospitalization rates are starting to go up there quite quickly,” he said. “But we’re still hearing that people in hospital are less severe than they’ve seen in the past.”
He said “for sure it’s more transmissible.”
“It will likely take over very quickly, and the only question is as it comes in quickly, will that result in increase hospitalizations and deaths?” he continued. “That will dictate what we do moving forward.”
WHAT HAVE PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES SAID?
Health officials in both Ontario and Quebec have suggested new restrictions are not in the immediate plans.
Last week, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said he doesn’t expect the province will re-impose restrictions due to the Omicron variant.
“If we see widespread presence of Omicron across Ontario, which is not the case at present, then we could review any measures that we need to take at a provincial level.”
He said, though that he doesn’t have a “crystal ball.”
Moore said if it’s a “less lethal virus,” has less impact on the province’s hospital sector and vaccines continue to work against it, “we will continue our current strategy and not have to have any further public health restrictions.”
However, on Tuesday, officials in Ontario did announce the pause on moving to the next step of reopening plans would continue indefinitely.
Next week, capacity limits were supposed to be lifted in some high-risk settings where proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required.
However, that was delayed last month due to a surge in cases.
In new modelling released by the Science Table COVID-19 advisory for Ontario on Tuesday, researchers said cases are rising in “most public health units” across the province due to the Delta variant.
The scientists said modelling shows that, even without the Omicron variant, occupancy in intensive care units at hospitals in Ontario is expected to climb to between 250 and 400 by January, putting hospitals under strain once again.
“We can’t predict Omicron precisely, but it will almost certainly hit us hard and fast,” the scientists said in a series of tweets on Tuesday. “Cases are rising, even without much Omicron yet. Our hospitals and ICUs are feeling pressure again. We need to increase vaccination and we can’t let up on public health measures.”
Meanwhile in Quebec, officials announced Tuesday that gatherings of up to 20 vaccinated people will be allowed in private homes beginning on Dec. 23.
Currently only 10 people from no more than three households are allowed to gather in homes.
Premier Francois Legault said last week that the province was not planning to add additional public health measures.
“I know Quebecers well enough to know that there are many people fed up with the current measures,” he said. “We don’t like the trend, but it’s under control.”
Legault said as long as hospitalizations “stay at low levels, it remains under control.”
With files from CTV’s Katharine DeClerq and Sean Davidson, and The Canadian Press
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.
The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.
Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.
The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.
Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”
“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.
“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”
Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.
The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.
It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.
Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.
It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.
“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.
Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.
The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.
Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.
The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.
“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.
Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.
“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.
“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”
Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.
On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.
That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.
Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”
“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”
French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.
“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.
“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Two years after the failed launch of a lending program, Canada Post is making another foray into banking services.
The postal service confirmed Friday that it will be offering a chequing and savings account in partnership with Koho Financial Inc.
The accounts will be launched nationally next year, though Canada Post employees will be offered early access as the product is tested.
Canada Post spokeswoman Lisa Liu said in a statement that there are gaps in the banking and savings products available that the Crown corporation looks to fill.
“Canada Post is uniquely positioned to fill some of these demands. Many of our existing financial products help meet the needs of new Canadians and those living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, but we believe more is required.”
The MyMoney offering will be a spending and savings account where customers will be able to choose between features like high interest rates, cashback rewards and credit-building tools.
A document briefly posted to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers website said it would use a prepaid, reloadable Mastercard that will use money from the account like a debit card but offer the features of a Mastercard.
It said there will be a range of account tiers, including no-fee accounts and paid accounts with more features.
The plans comes after Canada Post launched a lending program with TD Bank Group in late 2022, only to shut it down weeks later because of what it said were processing issues.
Liu said the postal service has since been exploring other possible financial service offerings.
“Utilizing what we’ve learned, we are making a strategic shift from loans toward products more aligned with our core financial service products.”
The new account will be delivered with financial technology company Koho. A few months ago the company paired with Canada Post to allow its customers to deposit cash into their account through post offices.
Koho is also working to secure a Canadian banking license to expand its services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
