The annual pace of housing starts in July fell 10 per cent from June when they posted their strongest showing of the year.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports the annual pace of urban starts was down 11 per cent, the rate of multi-unit urban starts fell 12 per cent and the pace of single-detached urban starts dropped four per cent.
C-M-H-C says housing starts fell 23 per cent in Vancouver but rose 33 per cent in Calgary.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and their spouses are leading the delegation, which departs Friday, though it's unclear whether all guests will travel on the same aircraft. The group will include former governors general Michaëlle Jean and David Johnston as well as former prime ministers Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper.
A notice of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court this week by Sea to Sky Gondola argues an alarm system designed and installed by Unified Systems Inc. failed when an unidentified person cut the cable for the second time in September 2020.
The BC Coroners Service recorded 192 drug-related deaths in July, a 31 per cent increase from June and equating to about 6.2 deaths per day. The new figures show the death rate across the province this year is 42 per 100,000, twice what it was in April 2016 when the public-health emergency was declared.
Opposition leader Kevin Falcon says a Liberal government under his leadership would increase supply as a way to help first-time buyers. He says he would also back "direct" supports for renters, but he hasn't "fleshed out" exactly how that would look.
The donation, which was announced at an event held in Vancouver's Stanley Park on Thursday, will be made through the Wilson 5 Foundation. The commitment is part of the B.C. Parks Foundation's launch of 25x25, a multi-year campaign to protect 25 per cent of land and waters, in partnership with Indigenous people.
Members of Parliament of all political stripes are rising in tribute to the queen today in a special sitting of the House. Trudeau says Canada came of age under the queen, who signed Canada's Constitution Act in 1982, ushering in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.