Nearly 23% of the Canadian population reported food insecurity in 2022

Nearly nine million Canadians lived in food insecure households in 2022, with 22.9 per cent of the population reporting some form of food insecurity, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday. The data agency wrote in its annual Canadian Income Survey that 8.7 million people lived in households that reported some kind of food insecurity. … Read more

Canadian farmers take precautions as bird flu outbreaks hit U.S. dairy cattle

The Dose19:04What’s going on with H5N1 bird flu? H5N1 is in the news again, and this time it has spread to cattle in several U.S. states. It has even infected a dairy worker in Texas. Global health epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan explains how avian flu is spreading, how transmissible it is, what vaccines are available, and … Read more

Shoppers Drug Mart faces proposed class action for alleged ‘unethical corporate practices’

A former Shoppers Drug Mart franchise owner has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Canadian retail pharmacy chain, and its parent company Loblaw, alleging the companies imposed “unsafe and unethical” corporate practices on franchise owner pharmacists to increase profits. The claim was filed in Ontario Superior Court last week and intends to cover … Read more

Human cases of bird flu ‘an enormous concern’: WHO

GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Thursday at the growing spread of H5N1 bird flu to new species, including humans, who face an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate.“This remains I think an enormous concern,” the UN health agency’s chief scientist Jeremy Farrar told reporters in Geneva.The current bird flu outbreak began in 2020 and has … Read more

Dentists can bill for federal dental plan patients without signing up for program, government says

The federal government announced Wednesday that oral health care providers who provide services to Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) clients can bill the insurance company directly without formally signing up for the program. In early April, provincial dental associations told CBC News that Ottawa was requiring dental care providers to sign contracts to join the … Read more

Anyone want a camper? It’s a buyer’s market for RVs as pandemic-era sales fizzle

Like a lot of Canadians, Alan Hong and his wife bought a trailer in 2020. Air travel was out of the question because of pandemic restrictions, and it made sense to spend time and money exploring the great outdoors.  But now, they’re looking to get off life on the open road and get back in … Read more

Canada-China relations committee questions witnesses on Winnipeg lab intelligence breach

Federal Health Minister Mark Holland suggested on Monday that there are gaps in the early stages of screening scientists at secret-level facilities such as the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg.  Holland told the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations there is a “responsibility of those individuals to disclose their engagements and affiliations.”  He … Read more

WHO says HIV still prevalent in Africa

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says though the HIV epidemic in Africa isn’t raging as fiercely as before, transmission is still prevalent. According to the global body, the continent’s HIV-positive population increased from 15.6 million in 2005 to 24.3 million in 2021, accounting for 3.4 per cent of the total population. The WHO Regional Director … Read more

Lengthier job hunts for recent graduates could be major factor in unemployment rate

Nearly a year after graduating from Carleton University with a degree in engineering physics, Surya Nareshan is still struggling to find employment. Nareshan, who lives in Ottawa, has applied for dozens of positions since May — mostly in software engineering and optics. While he’s made it through multiple rounds of interviews, including elaborate proficiency testing, he hasn’t yet found … Read more