Alberta's Bar U Ranch now open for new season
A group of visitors enjoy the ride as a Parks Canada interpreter drives the horse-drawn wagon at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site. (Supplied/Parks Canada) (Ryan Bray/Photo: Ryan Bray)
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Fares going up for Grand River Transit
Grand River Transit says a server issue has caused problems with its EasyGO fare cards. (Source: Riders will soon have to pay a little more to take Grand River Transit. The transportation operator is raising its fares starting July 1. Cash payments and single tickets from fare vending machines will increase from $3.75 to $4. Children under the age of six can still travel for free. Monthly passes are also going up from $96 to $104. The U-Pass, for college and university students, will also increase from $118.97 to $124.91. A College Pass, which covers a four-month term, will go from $312 to $325. Grand River Transit is also raising the cost of a summer pass from $163.20 to $176. It is valid for trips between July 1 to Aug. 31. The price of MobilityPLUS tickets, however, will not change. A few things will see a slight decrease, including fares and passes for the Affordable Transit Program. The cost of day passes and group passes will remain the same. The fare changes were approved by council in the 2025 Region of Waterloo Budget. Grand River Transit promised, in addition to the fare increases, they would be adding 15,000 service hours to improve their core network in response to growing ridership.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Vancouver short on hotel rooms, silent on safety costs for 2026 World Cup
Police officers patrol outside B.C. Place Stadium before the opening night of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert, in Vancouver, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck One year out from the FIFA World Cup, questions remain about where soccer fans visiting Vancouver will stay and how much it will cost to keep the city safe. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim spoke to reporters at an event marking the one-year countdown to the tournament on Wednesday, saying the city began working on security plans even before it was confirmed to host seven 2026 World Cup games. He says those plans were 'augmented' after 11 people were killed when a man drove a car into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu festival in April. The security costs have not been publicly released, but Sim says the city will 'make the necessary investments to make sure that people are safe in the city of Vancouver' during the event. Spencer Chandra Herbert, B.C.'s minister of tourism, arts, culture and sport, says the province will release a 'full costing' later this month, updating how much it expects to spend on the World Cup. Back in April 2024, B.C. organizers estimated the cost at between $483 million and $581 million for city and provincial services, as well as upgrades to B.C. Place Stadium. About 350,000 people are expected to visit Vancouver during the World Cup, Chandra Herbert said at Wednesday's event. Questions have been raised about where they'll stay, as a city report released in April noted there are just 13,000 rooms spread across 78 hotels within the municipality. The report found that Vancouver lost about 550 hotel rooms between 2020 and 2022, in part because some older hotels were converted to housing for vulnerable people. Tourists may need to get creative during the tournament, Chandra Herbert suggested. 'We're working with our hotel partners across the province,' he said. 'We think there's opportunity for people to stay further afield. We know Hullo and BC Ferries, we're looking at them as an opportunity for overflow, even all the way to Nanaimo. Of course, out in the (Fraser) Valley.' Chandra Herbert said some Vancouver residents may also look to rent out their homes during the World Cup. Both the province and the City of Vancouver have regulations for short-term rentals, including rules on what types of homes can be used. In Vancouver, all operators must also have a business licence. 'It's a good problem to have,' Chandra Herbert said. 'A whole bunch of people want to come and be with us in B.C., and we can't wait to welcome them.' The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, 2026, with opening games in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Toronto and Vancouver are the two Canadian cities hosting matches, as part of the 16 host cities across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Vancouver will stage five opening-round games starting June 13, plus a round-of-32 and a round-of-16 match. This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press, was first published June 11, 2025.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
CBRM to withhold half of tourism marketing levy to promote large sporting events
The head of a marketing organization representing all of Cape Breton Island says he has serious concerns after the region's largest municipality decided to withhold half of the money it raises through a levy on tourist accommodations. Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillors voted 10-3 at Tuesday's meeting in Sydney, N.S., to keep what could amount to $500,000 or more a year and use that money to promote large sporting events at CBRM facilities. Destination Cape Breton CEO Terry Smith said the change was unexpected. "We're disappointed in the decision, because I don't think the full story was provided to council in terms of the implications of that decision," he said in a telephone interview late Tuesday evening. Smith said he had asked for a meeting with Mayor Cecil Clarke to discuss the matter, but that never happened. The change will reduce the marketing organization's budget by about 20 per cent and will mean budget cuts, including the possibility of staff cuts, and could lead to less effective marketing for the island, Smith said. "I kind of feel like this is taking something that is working and trying to fix it, but it has been working," he said. "We've had major success over the last number of years." All five municipalities on Cape Breton Island levy a three per cent tax on tourist accommodations — including hotels, motels and short-term rentals — and until now have handed over the entire amount to Destination Cape Breton. The agency uses the money to promote tourism around the island and to attract events that will result in more tourist dollars coming into the municipalities. Councillors said Tuesday they are not unhappy with Destination Cape Breton, but they wanted to see more emphasis on attracting large sporting events to CBRM venues. Clarke said the levy is expected to generate over $1 million this year and while CBRM staff can use it to bid on large events, Destination Cape Breton can focus on wider tourism advertising. "That puts a half a million dollars in each organization's pockets to do island-wide marketing and specific events … that are of a larger nature that are focused on our venues and our infrastructure in the CBRM," he said. Clarke said the change is "about finding balance and hopefully a win-win on both sides." Although councillors said they were not "anti-Destination Cape Breton," the mayor said more attention needs to be paid to the island's largest municipality where the largest tourist attractions and accommodations already exist. "There hasn't been that focus on our facilities within the CBRM, specifically our signature ones," Clarke said. Smith said Destination Cape Breton has had a hand in attracting events such as the world women's curling championship, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's curling championship, the Canada Soccer U17 national championships, the Mobility Cup international regatta for sailors with disabilities, Nova Scotia Music Week and more. He said if the other island municipalities decide to carve out separate deals, the fragmentation of marketing dollars could make it more difficult to successfully attract tourists. "We don't know where that is all going to go," Smith said. "We're going to have discussions with folks and hopefully everybody will stay onside, but nothing is a guarantee and that really wasn't considered in this decision by CBRM." Councillors Steve Gillespie, Steve Parsons and Kim Sheppard-Campbell voted against the motion to approve the change. Parsons said the item was only added to the agenda on Monday and he wasn't happy making a major decision with so little notice. He also asked questions about the amount of money under discussion and whether CBRM would hire someone to attract events. Recreation director Kirk Durning said he didn't have exact numbers on hand but the levy brought in just under $900,000 last year and staff could handle the work in-house. Parsons also said he wanted to know what the impact would be on Destination Cape Breton. "I think these decisions are important and they should be taken [with] all the time and consideration and having everybody in the room to answer all the pertinent questions," Parsons said. Gillespie and Sheppard-Campbell also wanted to hear from the marketing organization and while two staff members were in the gallery for the afternoon meeting, they were not invited to speak. 'Dialogue has been evolving,' Clarke says They later declined to comment to reporters, saying the CEO was the official spokesperson. Smith said he was on business in Alberta and flew into Sydney airport at 7 p.m. Clarke said he and staff had been discussing the change in financing for months and the matter had even been raised by the previous administration, so Destination Cape Breton should not have been surprised. He said the growth in marketing funds from room taxes presented an opportunity for CBRM to take some of the burden off taxpayers. "This has been a dialogue that's been evolving, but also the amount of revenue has been increasing, which has changed quite frankly the opportunity for both, to maintain stability and a funding stream for Destination Cape Breton and also provide money specific to destination marketing directly within Sydney and the CBRM."
