LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
Equifax Canada says credit demand was high in the first quarter of the year while the mortgage market saw a significant slowdown.
The agency says in its latest consumer credit report that on average, consumers are spending 21.5 per cent more each month on their credit cards compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Equifax Canada's vice-president of advanced analytics Rebecca Oakes says in a statement that the first quarter normally brings a drop in non-mortgage debt as consumer spending slows after the holidays.
But this year, Oakes says credit card balances continued to increase for the first quarter.
Missed payments on non-mortgage debts also rose, with 175,000 more consumers missing payments on at least one product, up 18.8 per cent from a year earlier.
Oakes says the higher cost of living and the influx of new credit customers have driven credit card balances to rise by 14.5 per cent year-over-year.
Equifax says non-mortgage delinquency rates rose by the most in British Columbia and Ontario. And while at the end of 2022 delinquencies were more pronounced among non-mortgage holders, the first quarter of 2023 saw an increasing number of mortgage holders missing payments on non-mortgage debt.
"While interest rates and cost of living remain high, we expect to see more groups of consumers experiencing financial difficulties over the coming months," says Oakes.
The agency says new mortgage originations dropped 42 per cent in the first quarter compared with a year ago, the lowest volume since 2014. The average loan amount was down 13.9 per cent year-over-year but only 2.9 per cent from the previous quarter, which Equifax says suggests a potential end to the pricing correction in the housing market.
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.