Canada is launching new Express Entry immigration streams for permanent residents to meet the future needs of the economy, including categories for research, transportation and military recruitment, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said.

These will be in addition to the specialized streams already in place for health care and social services workers, such as nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists and chiropractors, and for trades, such as carpenters, plumbers and machinists.

In December, Ottawa announced a specialized Express Entry stream for foreign-trained doctors with Canadian work experience.

The first round for applications under that category will begin this week, Diab said.

1:35
Canada has opportunity to attract new talent after Trump raises US H-1B visas to $100K: Carney

The first category that’s being added is for researchers and senior managers with Canadian work experience to help drive research in Canada.

“We’re supporting the broader federal efforts to drive innovation and growth, including a $1.7 billion initiative announced in December by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to attract world-leading researchers to Canada,” she said.

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The federal government is also adding a second category for transportation workers, to help plug labour shortages in Canada’s transportation sector, she added. This will include applications for people who are trained pilots, aircraft mechanics and inspectors.

“We’ve identified these sectors as areas in critical need. Strengthening those helps us move goods across the country and to new markets supporting trade, supply chains and economic resilience,” Diab said.

Ottawa is also launching a third stream of entry — skilled military recruits.

“We are creating a new category for skilled military recruits to attract highly skilled foreign military applicants. Eligible recruits with a job offer from the Canadian Armed Forces, including doctors, nurses, pilots can be invited to apply for permanent residence,” Diab said.

She added that this category is being introduced to complement the defence industrial strategy, announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.

Carney released his new Buy Canadian plan for supplying the military and growing Canada’s domestic defence industry on Tuesday, saying Canada can never be “hostage” to the decisions of others when it comes to security.

The $6.6-billion plan promises to prioritize building military equipment at home, hike the share of defence contracts awarded to Canadian firms and add up to 125,000 new jobs over the next decade.

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Researchers at McGill University say they’ve made progress in improving a technology that can convert human urine into electricity.

The study examined how microbial fuel cells (MFC) perform when supplied with different concentrations of urine.

According to Vijaya Raghavan, professor at McGill and co-author of the study, these systems use bacteria to break down organic waste while producing small amounts of power.

While microbial fuel cells are already known for their ability to treat wastewater and generate electricity, researchers say there has been limited study into how urine concentration affects their performance.

“While MFCs are known to clean wastewater and generate electricity, the specific effects of different urine concentrations on their function and pollutant removal efficiency are still not well understood,” said Raghavan.

“This study addresses that gap by systematically examining how varying urine proportions affect the system.”

For the experiment, researchers built four microbial fuel cells and supplied them with mixtures of synthetic wastewater and human urine at concentrations of 20, 50 and 75 per cent.

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Over a two-week period, the team monitored electricity production, pollutant removal and overall treatment efficiency.

They found that higher urine concentrations, particularly between 50 and 75 per cent, improved power generation and supported stronger microbial activity.

0:55
Scientists develop ‘pee-powered urinals’ that can charge smartphones

“Urine contains essential ions and organic compounds that support rapid microbial growth, which improves power generation and pollutant breakdown,” Raghavan said.

Raghavan said the findings could have practical implications in regions where traditional wastewater treatment or energy infrastructure is limited.

He said the technology could eventually be used in rural sanitation systems, disaster relief operations and off-grid communities.

Because microbial fuel cells produce measurable electrical signals in response to pollution levels, researchers say the systems may also function as low-cost wastewater monitoring tools.

Beyond energy production, researchers say the approach aligns with broader sustainability efforts by turning waste into a usable resource.

“Using urine as a resource supports sustainable sanitation and nutrient recovery, reducing pressure on freshwater systems,” Raghavan said.

He added that scientific advances continue to demonstrate how collaboration and innovation can address global challenges.

“It is very encouraging. Being exposed to global systems as a professor working within Canada, I see the importance that science and technology bring,” Raghavan said.

“Today the ozone hole is closing, which is a very positive example of how global efforts can come together to solve humanitarian problems. I have many more hopes for how we can use science and technology for sustainability.”

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The British Columbia First Nation that announced the discovery of 215 potential unmarked graves at a former residential school in 2021, catapulting the issue into public discourse, says there may never be consensus on what to do with the site.

A statement from the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation says possible future outcomes for the Kamloops Indian Residential School property include excavation or preserving its orchard as a sacred site, “a place of memory and healing.”

The nation says its investigation is ongoing, with the findings so far pointing to several areas of focus, with “signatures that resemble burials” identified in some, and other areas ruled out as burial sites.

Tuesday’s statement says more than 500 children from 38 Indigenous nations living in 119 B.C. communities attended the institution at its peak, and the nation must seek consensus on how ancestral remains should be treated.

Still, it says “we also understand that full consensus may never be achieved.”

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The nation says any remains would need to be repatriated in their home communities, calling it an “extremely complex and sensitive process” involving consultation with those nations, DNA analysis and forensic expertise.

Whether to dig at the site has been a fraught question, with no agreement among survivors of the institution. Some have said they see exhumation as a process to help lay victims to rest, while others don’t want the site disturbed.

In 2022, a year after the initial announcement of the discovery of suspected unmarked graves, Tk’emlups Chief Rosanne Casimir described the nation’s approach as an ongoing process of “exhumation to memorialization.”

The probe has included the use of ground-penetrating radar, LIDAR scanning and specially trained dogs, along with the examination of records from the Catholic Church and the B.C. and federal governments, said the statement this week.

“While the investigation has been more complex than we initially thought, we are making progress and will continue adapting our methodologies and information as it advances,” it said.

A report by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 detailed harsh mistreatment at residential institutions across Canada, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children, and at least 4,100 deaths.

The report cited records of at least 51 children dying at the Kamloops school between 1914 and 1963. Health officials in 1918 believed children at the school were not being adequately fed, leading to malnutrition, the report noted.

The Kamloops institution operated between 1890 and 1969, when Ottawa took control from the Catholic Church and ran it as a day school until it closed in 1978.

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The Ford government has broken ground on four stations and an elevated guideway for its signature Ontario Line subway, which could be finished sometime in the early 2030s.

The project was born from Premier Doug Ford’s attempts to upload Toronto’s subway system shortly after he came to power, connecting the Don Mills and Eglinton area to Ontario Place.

The Ontario Line was announced in 2019 with a promise that it “could open by 2027” and a $10.9 billion price tag.

It was designed to act as a relief valve for the city’s Yonge/University subway line, offering an alternate way to get from north to south through new neighbourhoods. It broke ground in March 2022.

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Since then, the cost of the project, which has been updated to include operating costs, has exploded to more than $27 billion, and the opening date has been removed. The $27 billion figure captures all major contracts that need to be handed out.

At the groundbreaking event on Wednesday, Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay said the subway would likely be built by the early 2030s, but that testing could extend its opening date beyond that.

“We think we’re still trending toward the early 2030s to be done with civil infrastructure and then to start the testing and commissioning phase,” Lindsay said.

“We’re trying right now to think about how we front-load systems integration considerations to reduce that testing and commissioning time. Once we know more with our private partners about how that’s going … we’ll be able to be even more precise.”

Wednesday’s event marked the beginning of construction work on an elevated guideway for the Ontario Line that will take track from Don Valley Station to Flemingdon Park and then to Thorncliffe Park.

“The Ontario Line is at the centre of our government’s $70 billion plan to build and upgrade transit, helping to fight gridlock and keeping thousands of workers on the job in the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty.”

Ground was also broken at Cosburn Station in the Pape Villa area.

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Ex-Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux has crossed the floor to the Liberals, Prime Minister Mark Carney says.

“I am honoured to welcome Matt Jeneroux to our caucus as the newest member of Canada’s new government,” Carney said in a social media post.

Jeneroux is now the third Conservative, after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont and Toronto area MP Michael Ma, to switch to Carney’s Liberals.

Jeneroux’s crossing brings Carney’s government to the cusp of a majority, with the Liberals now at 169 MPs in the House of Commons. Three byelections are set to be held in ridings previously held by the Liberals. If the Liberals regain all three seats, this would bring them to 172 MPs — the majority mark, but reliant on the Speaker to break tie votes.

The MP for Edmonton Riverbend since 2015, Jeneroux was the Conservative critic for supply chains, innovation, infrastructure, health and housing before announcing that he was resigning , just ahead of a crucial vote on the federal budget in the House of Commons.

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“It was not an easy decision, but it is, I believe, the right one,” he said at the time.

1:39
Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux resigns, 2nd to leave caucus this week

Jeneroux said he had hoped Canadians would “put their faith” in a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre in the last federal election, but added he has “great admiration” for his fellow MPs “on both sides of the aisle.”

Carney on Wednesday said Jeneroux is being appointed as the “special advisor on economic and security partnerships.”

“Matt’s leadership will contribute to strengthening Canada’s alliances and trade partnerships, advancing Canada’s leadership in global security cooperation, and building our strength at home,” Carney said.

2:35
Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux resigns from House of Commons

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A small black dog that was kicked in a “disturbing and upsetting” viral video has been removed from the owner’s care, Sudbury, Ont., police say.

Investigators said they first learned of the incident on Saturday. A resident contacted them over an incident in which a man was seen kicking his dog on Bruce Avenue.

A video of the incident was later circulated online, police said.

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“We understand how disturbing and upsetting this video has been for many in our community and beyond, and we want to assure the public that we are actively investigating the incident,” police said in a news release Tuesday.

“The dog has since been removed from the individual’s care. Animal Welfare Services have been notified and are following up as part of the ongoing process.”

Police did not say if the owner was placed under arrest or if charges would be laid. An investigation is ongoing.

Investigators are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Police are also reminding community members not to call investigators unless they have first-hand information related to the incident.

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