National News

TORONTO — Canada's confirmed cases of COVID-19 surged past 19,000 on Wednesday, with more than 500 deaths ascribed to the raging global pandemic as Quebec became the province with the most fatalities attributed to the disease.

Mounties say they're investigating the death of an eight-year-old boy in British Columbia's Interior.

YELLOWKNIFE — The Northwest Territories is creating a squad of public health officers specifically to enforce orders around the COVID-19 pandemic.

OTTAWA — First Nations and Metis leaders say they need more from Ottawa to combat COVID-19 in their communities, including money, assistance with security and help acquiring protective equipment.

OTTAWA — Legislation to enact a massive wage subsidy program is being held up as political parties debate how Parliament should work in the midst of a deadly global pandemic.

A look at some of the top quotes from Wednesday on COVID-19 in Canada: "Job numbers will come out tomorrow. It's going to be a hard day." — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. ——— "Test, test, test, test and don't stop testing.

TORONTO — The shortcomings of Canada's COVID-19 testing strategy came to the fore Wednesday as Ontario's premier admitted to "unacceptable" testing rates, Quebec promised to aggressively root out infections in long-term care homes and Nova Scotia exp

OTTAWA — Gaps in Canada's data collection means the country could be unable to see which groups are most affected by COVID-19, researchers warn.

CALGARY — A man whose wife died of COVID-19 last month says the two of them were expecting 2020 to be the best year of their lives.

OTTAWA — Canada's energy minister will speak to his U.S. and Mexican counterparts Thursday in a bid to form a common front ahead of talks aimed at ending the global oil-price wars.