Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
The number of children living in poverty in Canada has increased for the third year in a row, according to the group Campaign 2000. In its 2025 report card, the organization said an extra 30,000 kids fell into poverty in 2023, which is the most recent year with available data. Campaign 2000 said 1.4 million children were living in poverty in 2023, a child poverty rate of 18.3 per cent. It measures poverty based on after-tax incomes.
An organization that campaigns to end child poverty says the number of children living in households that struggle to pay bills and buy food has continued to grow. https://t.co/7Aj6Sv8KvR
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) February 25, 2026
Some First Nations communities in Canada are expressing anger at the US over the country's eagerness to protect its border. A Mohawk man living in Ontario told the CBC he regularly crosses the border into New York, where he works, but is now becoming "increasingly anxious." He added: "“The border doesn’t exist to us ... To think that somebody that is uneducated, full of testosterone, armed, and has a quota to meet for incarcerated citizens [is] terrifying.”
Canada is sending $8 million in food aid in Cuba, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. It comes as the people of Cuba, who have been persecuted by a communist dictatorship for nearly 70 years, suffer from a lack of oil following the US's arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who had sent supplies to Cuba. Anand said the Canadian aid will be delivered through the UN.
Canada is sending $8 million in food aid to people in Cuba, where a U.S. oil blockade has triggered a humanitarian crisis.#cuba #canada #foreignaid #foodaidhttps://t.co/Wk4NmUQrwT
— 980 CJME (@CJMENews) February 25, 2026
Alberta and Ontario are the most attractive places for mining investment in Canada, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute. In the rest of Canada, however, the picture is less bright, with mineral-rich provinces and territories like British Columbia (31), Yukon (47), Northwest Territories (54), Nunavut (43) and Manitoba (39) performing less well. Number one on the list was Nevada.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has chastised the Liberal government for its "persistent delays" in appointing a new parliamentary budget officer, adding that "reliance on interim arrangements present risks for the PBO’s independence and stability." It comes as the term of the interim PBO, Jason Jacques, is set to expire on Monday despite there being no named replacement. Critics of the Liberal government have also said Jacques, who warned Ottawa's finances were in a 'stupefying" state, has been targeted by the Grits for political reasons.
OECD criticizes Ottawa over 'persistent delays' in appointing new budget officer https://t.co/xB3etcAOZF
— CTV National News (@CTVNationalNews) February 26, 2026
