Surrey police are investigating a suspicious fire overnight that engulfed several businesses at a strip mall.
R-C-M-P say it happened at around midnight at the mall at the intersection of 148th Street and 108th Avenue.
Police say some businesses were opened as the fire broke out, but everyone was evacuated safely without injuries.
Investigators say they are looking into the cause of the blaze and are asking any witnesses or those with dash cam footage to contact police.
BC Hydro says the extreme cold temperatures saw the province experience a record-high power demand. The public utility says in a statement it reached record demand highs on Friday night of eleven thousand three hundred megawatts.
Canadians living in provinces where the federal carbon price is collected are expected to receive their first Climate Action Incentive rebate of the year today. The federal government says people living in provinces including Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan will receive the rebate through direct bank deposit or by cheque if they have filed their income tax and benefit returns.
Environment Canada says the forecast calls for snowflurries in the Metro Vancouver area by Tuesday, followed by rain later this week. Temperatures are still forecast to remain well below zero Celsius in the province's northeast and Kootenay regions.
In British Columbia, rescue crews say two skiers are lucky to be alive after they became lost in the Fitzsimmons Creek area near Whistler late Thursday as wind chill dipped around -50 C. North Shore Rescue says on social media that a helicopter was used to hoist out the pair who were hypothermic with frozen feet, and it's "unlikely the skiers would have survived the night."
Mounties in Coquitlam are reminding the public that its emergency and non-emergency lines are not meant for complaints about things like a cold fast-food burger. Police say that was one of many calls they had to 9-1-1 that take away staff time from helping someone with a life-threatening situation.
An abrupt snowfall in Metro Vancouver resulted in snarled traffic and set off numerous crashes on major routes. Environment Canada says the area received about 3 centimetres of snow Thursday, which combined with freezing temperatures to create icy roads throughout the region.