Worst of poor air quality, high pollution predicted for Thursday in Toronto
CBC
For the third day in a row, Toronto is under a special weather statement for poor air quality — and Thursday is predicted to bring the worst of it.
Environment Canada predicts Thursday will be an eight out of the 10-point Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) scale. The index measures air quality based on how it will impact health. That number signals a high risk during the day and means people may want to consider cancelling outdoor activities.
The weather agency said that's especially true for people who are considered high-risk, which include those with lung disease, such as asthma, people with heart disease, older people, children, pregnant people and those who work outside.
On Wednesday, Toronto was a seven on the AQHI scale, and was a six the day prior.
The weather agency says the smoky air from wildfires that are engulfing Quebec and northeastern Ontario should dissipate by Sunday, as a low pressure system is expected to bring in cleaner air.
But until then, Environment Canada recommends wearing an N95 mask to help reduce exposure to fine particles in smoke, if being outside is unavoidable.
"These fine particles generally pose the greatest risk to health. However, respirators do not reduce exposure to the gases in wildfire smoke," the federal weather agency said.
Environment Canada recommends the following:
Late Wednesday afternoon, Toronto Public Health said it was adjusting some programming across the city due to smoky air. It encouraged residents to reduce their exposure to the outdoors.
Those registered in city programming, particularly outdoor activities, are encouraged to check its website for possible cancellations or rescheduling, it said in a statement. Some recreation programs have been cancelled into Thursday, while other activities have been moved indoors, it said.
However, city sport fields, baseball diamonds and parks remain open. Public health said it recommends organizers of outdoor sports events consider air quality when making decisions around potentially modifying their plans.
Toronto has also suspended outdoor activities at city-run early learning and childcare centres.
WATCH: Here's how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
City said Toronto's Streets to Homes community outreach team is encouraging those who are homeless to conduct wellness checks and encourage people to come indoors.
More Alberta seniors are now eligible for a provincially funded RSV vaccine.
More than 100 workers at a steel plant in eastern Ontario are being laid off either temporarily or permanently, as a company with facilities in Quebec and Ontario cuts its workforce due to challenging market conditions — including U.S. tariffs.
A small town northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has become the unlikely home for hundreds of foreign workers, but many may have to leave the community they've embraced after the end of a federal program put in place to fill gaps in Canada's labour market.
There's mixed reaction in Waterloo to an injuction allowing police to detain, arrest and charge anyone who is participating in unsanctioned street parties in that city this weekend.
Diabetes Canada is excited about Prince Edward Island's new pharmacare deal with the federal government, but hopes the province will reevaluate copays on diabetes supplies, says a senior manager with the organization.
After 26 years of accommodating guests from across the world, Faith Embleton says she and her husband Ken are ready to sell their bed and breakfast.
A group of big-name companies including Google, Meta and Dow have signed a pledge to support tripling the world's nuclear energy capacity by 2050, a signal of the technology's growing resurgence in popularity.
Five years on, Toronto-area doctors and public health officials are looking back at what they've learned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and most agree the early experience will prove useful if the city faces another infectious disease crisis.
City staff would like Londoners to take a good look around their home and ask themselves a direct and possibly difficult question: Could everyone in your family survive at home, without leaving and with no other help, for a full 72 hours?
Liberal Leader Mark Carney will officially become Canada's next prime minister within a few hours, taking the reins as the country barrels toward a general election and continues to fend off verbal and economic attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Recent cyberattacks in Newfoundland and Labrador should have been a wake up call for the federal government about the reality of an increasingly hostile world, says one cybersecurity expert.
A recent CBC News analysis found that Nova Scotia is rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, but housing experts say there are ways to prevent that.
Premier Susan Holt is defending her decision to not use electricity exports to Maine as leverage against U.S. tariffs, arguing the move might cause long-term pain for New Brunswickers.