
More than 125K hedge trimmers recalled in Canada, U.S. over laceration hazard
Hundreds of thousands of Ryobi-branded cordless hedge trimmers sold in Canada and the U.S. have been recalled due to laceration hazards, prompting warnings from health and consumer agencies in both countries.
Health Canada issued a joint recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) and Techtronic Industries (TTI) Outdoor Power Equipment Inc. on Thursday for select Ryobi 24-inch, 40V cordless hedge trimmers.
'The hedge trimmer blade can unexpectedly activate after pressing just the safety or trigger control individually rather than engaging the safety and trigger controls simultaneously, posing a potential laceration hazard,' the alert said.
According to Health Canada, as of May 27, TTI Outdoor Power Equipment has received one incident report and one finger laceration report in Canda. Approximately 15,000 units were sold in Canada between March 2021 to January 2025.
The affected trimmers only have model numbers RY40620VNM, RY40602VNM and RY40602BTLVNM and serial numbers within ranges LT21091D180001 to LT22365D060025 and RG23125N250001 to RG24252D101110. Consumers can find the model and serial information on the product's data plate located on the trimmer's bottom.
Health Canada urges consumers to 'immediately stop using' the affected products and visit the company's website to see if their trimmer is in the recall.
Consumers can receive a free replacement trimmer.
Larger recall in the U.S.
The recall is more significant in the U.S., where the CPSC reported the same day that more than 110,000 units are affected.
According to the CPSC, the company received 27 reports of the blade activating after pressing just one of the controls including 16 injury reports that resulted in minor and some severe lacerations.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBC
16 minutes ago
- CBC
N.B. legal aid commission to review eligibility criteria in wake of auditor general report
The New Brunswick legal aid commission says it is proud of the service it provides, despite the auditor general's recent finding that some people might not be getting the help they need under eight-year-old eligibility criteria. In the last fiscal year, the Legal Aid Services Commission provided services in family and criminal law to more than 31,000 clients — 4,000 more than in the previous year, said Chantal Landry, the commission executive director. But Landry doesn't disagree with concerns raised by Auditor General Paul Martin about eligibility requirements. "We do recognize that, given the economic realities and the inflation observed in the last few years, it would be appropriate for a review of the financial eligibility grids, and we take no exception to the recommendation made by Mr. Martin on this." Martin reviewed the efficiency and effectiveness of the commission in providing legal aid across the province between April 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024. His report was released earlier this week. Martin commended the commission for a number of things, including the timely processing of applications and the consistent application of financial eligibility criteria. But he found the "lack of timely review of the eligibility grid may contribute to the risk that [the commission] may not be fulfilling its mandate to serve low-income individuals as intended." Landry said an "appropriate analysis" is to be done, but if it determines an increased need for legal aid, the commission needs to be "properly resourced" to meet it. Before the current eligibility grid for legal aid was adopted, eligibility was decided based on a means test that looked at the amount of disposable income an applicant had left at the end of each month. "It was a very convoluted and very, honestly, inequitable system, because for clients who were financially responsible, they typically didn't qualify," Landry said. The income grid used now is based on gross household income. For example, according to the grid posted in 2017, a single-person household making more than $2,600 per month is not eligible for legal aid. Landry said the reason the criteria haven't been reviewed in eight years is that there were other priorities and an increase in clients coming through the door. In Martin's report, he also found no formalized financial appeals process, and people who did appeal were not treated consistently. The audit found that of the 140 appeals, 14 applicants were approved with an income of more than 10 per cent above the threshold, while 15 were denied despite their income being within 10 per cent of the threshold. Landry said that in recent years, the commission looked at accepting people who were just above the eligibility cut-off and appealed being denied aid. "We developed kind of a discretionary standard of accepting a client if their income was within 10 per cent over the top of the grid," said Landry. "So to address the recommendation of Mr. Martin, we've already put in place some directives to staff, and we will further develop processes to provide more transparency for clients who will want to appeal under this guideline." Landry said she understands why there needs to be more process in that particular system, and hopes it will be achieved in the near future. Landry said she was pleased with the positive comments that came out of the auditor general's report, but said there's always room for improvement in any program.


CTV News
23 minutes ago
- CTV News
Met Opera attendance dropped in spring as tourism fell, coinciding with immigration crackdown
People appear in Josie Robertson Plaza in front of The Metropolitan Opera house at Lincoln Center in New York on March 12, 2020. . (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) NEW YORK — Metropolitan Opera season attendance dropped slightly following the Trump administration's immigration crackdown that coincided with a decrease in tourists to New York. The Met sold 72% of capacity, matching 2023-24 and down from its 75% projection. 'We were on track to continue to improve,' Met general manager Peter Gelb said Friday. 'We were disappointed by the sales in the last two months of the season — our projections were much higher and I attribute the fact that we didn't achieve our sales goals to a significant drop in tourism." New York City Tourism & Conventions last month reduced its 2025 international visitor projection by 17%, the Met said. International buyers accounted for 11% of sales, down from the Met's projection of 16% and from about 20% before the coronavirus pandemic. 'It's unfortunate, but this is the times in which we live,' Gelb said. The Met said factoring ticket discounts, it realized 60% of potential income, down from 64% in 2023-24 but up from 57% in 2022–23. 'We were able to sell an equal amount of tickets the last year, but there were more discounted tickets,' Gelb said. 'This really was the result of the last two months of the season.' There were 76,000 new ticket buyers, a drop from 85,000 in 2023-24, and the average age of single ticket buyers was 44, the same as in the previous season and a drop from 50 before the pandemic. Subscriptions accounted for just 7% of ticket sales, down from 12-15% before the pandemic, Gelb said economic uncertainty impacted sales for next season. 'The stock market jumping up and down made people feel insecure,' he said. 'In one week we saw an enormous decline in our advance for next season. Then it picked up again.' Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin earned $2,045,038 in the year end last July 31, up from $1,307,583, in the previous fiscal year, according to the company's tax return released Friday. Gelb earned $1,395,216, roughly the same as his $1,379,032 in 2022-23,and he also accrued $798,205 listed as retirement or deferred compensation. Assets declined by about $40 million to $467 million, primarily because of an endowment draw following the pandemic. Among individual productions last season, the highest percentage of tickets sold were for the English-language version of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' and a new staging of Verdi's 'Aida,' both at 82%, followed by the company premiere of Jake Heggie's 'Moby-Dick' at 81% Other new productions included Strauss' 'Salome' (74%), John Adams' 'Antony and Cleopatra' (65%), Osvaldo Golijov's 'Ainadamar' (61%) and Jeanine Tesori's 'Grounded' (50%). The best-selling revivals were Puccini's 'Tosca' (78%), Tchaikovsky's 'Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades)' and Puccini's La Bohème (77% each), Beethoven's 'Fidelio' and Rossini's 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' (76% each) and Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' (71%). Lagging were Strauss' 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' (68%0, Verdi's 'Rigoletto' (64%), Offenbach's 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann' and the German-language version of Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' (62% each) and Verdi's 'Il Trovatore' (59%). Ronald Blum, The Associated Press


CTV News
25 minutes ago
- CTV News
N.S. announces additional funding for first responders in need of more equipment
Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland is pictured with Leonard Ross, left, and Kevin Curley of the Northeast Margaree Fire Department in front of the department's off-road rescue vehicle. (Source: Province of Nova Scotia) The province of Nova Scotia has announced $2.8 million in additional funding to help first responders buy equipment. The Emergency Services Provider Fund has been expanded to allow organizations to apply for up to $30,000, an increase from $20,000 last year. The fund will also now cover up to 90 per cent of costs, up from 75 per cent. Fire departments, ground search and rescue teams and hazardous materials units can apply under the fund. Examples of eligible purchases include: personal protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus equipment for firefighting, communication, rescue, water supply and suppression, hazardous materials emergency power for buildings Applications open Sunday and close July 30. 'First responders play such a crucial role in keeping Nova Scotians safe,' said Minister of Emergency Management Kim Masland in a provincial news release. 'This year, we're increasing the amount of the fund to $4 million to better equip and support our first responders.' The province has also added a new regional component for projects and equipment that address 'the collective needs of multiple emergency response organizations in an area.' The new component is said to help with coordinated, region-wide preparedness, response and recovery efforts. Up to $200,000 will be available under the regional category, with applications opening Sept. 1 and closing Oct. 14. Examples of eligible purchases through the regional fund include: major equipment and specialized vehicles and trailers regional training facilities shared equipment pool (self-contained breathing apparatus, drones, rope or swift water kits, remote rescue kits) regional mobile command unit multi-purpose utility terrain vehicles, all-terrain vehicles for wildland and search and rescue missions regional hazard and vulnerability analysis, regional risk reduction strategies and public education projects regional exercise and training programs regional FireSmart program enhancements mental health resiliency programs Another change is organizations can now apply for funding once every two years rather than every three. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page