In the news today: Alberta set to order end to mass teachers strike

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Alberta government set to table legislation to order striking teachers back to work

The Alberta government is set to table legislation today ordering thousands of striking teachers back to work and end their weeks-long strike. Premier Danielle Smith has said the strike, which began Oct. 6, has gone on far too long and that it’s harming children. She has said barring an 11th-hour deal, her government would table back-to-work legislation Monday to force an end to the job action and return kids to class. Both sides have been deadlocked over wages and classroom conditions, with the province’s latest offer including a 12 per cent wage hike over four years and a promise to hire 3,000 more teachers.

Bank of Canada expected to cut key rate this week

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to cut its benchmark interest rate again this week, even though recent inflation and jobs data might make the case for a hold. The central bank cut its policy rate by a quarter point to 2.5 per cent in late September, snapping a streak of three consecutive holds. Since then, Statistics Canada has reported a surprise gain of 60,000 jobs and a jump in the annual inflation figures for September. Wednesday’s interest rate decision will be the Bank of Canada’s second-last of the year and comes less than a week before the federal government tables its fall budget.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Voters head to polls for election day in Nunavut

Residents across 22 constituencies are to head to the polls to elect their next member of the legislative assembly. The territory has a consensus style of government rather than the more common multi-party system so candidates run as independents. MLA and Health Minister John Main, who is running again in the Arviat North-Whale Cove riding, says several issues are at stake. Tony Uluadluak, the only other candidate running against Main, said on his social media that, if elected, he will tackle the housing and affordability crises as well as work to sustain the Inuktitut language and encourage youth to pursue education. Polls are open until 7 p.m. local time.

Bike lanes, homelessness mark Montreal’s election

It’s only a week before Montrealers will head to the polls to choose their next mayor. The campaign ahead of the Nov. 2 election has been marked by a growing list of city problems, including homelessness, housing affordability and bike lanes. One of the leading candidates in the race, Soraya Martinez Ferrada of Ensemble Montréal, is portraying herself as the candidate of change and giving herself four years to solve the problem of homeless encampments. Her opponent, Luc Rabouin, leader of Projet Montréal, wants the city to be the continent’s most affordable metropolis by promoting the creation of non-market housing through bylaws and other tools.

Soaring food costs sent these Canadians to food banks

A new Food Banks Canada report says Canada’s hunger crisis is deepening. The organization’s 2025 HungerCount report says monthly visits to food banks neared 2.2 million visits in March 2025. That’s five per cent higher than March of last year and nearly double since before the pandemic, in March 2019. Lead author Richard Matern says one-in-five visitors were working adults and nearly one-quarter were two-parent families. The national report comes as a Toronto-focused poverty study finds more than one-in-10 rely on food banks.

Canada can now lose measles elimination status

Canada is poised to lose its international status as a measles-free country now that an outbreak that began in New Brunswick and spread to other provinces has hit the one-year mark. The country eliminated measles in 1998 and maintained that status for more than 25 years, meaning there was no ongoing community transmission and any new cases were travel-related. But since Oct. 27 last year, the virus has spread to more than 5,000 people in Canada, including two infants in Ontario and Alberta who died. Experts attribute the return of measles to declining vaccination rates, stemming from misinformation-fuelled vaccine hesitancy and distrust of science, as well as the disruption of routine immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.

The Canadian Press