Tag: British Columbia

Published by: Simon Fraser University
Published on: October 3, 2025
By Sharon Mah, Gladys We

One in nine Canadians have experienced Long COVID symptoms, ranging from mild to debilitating. A new exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver, co-produced by Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, invites visitors into the often-invisible world of those living with the life-altering effects of COVID-19.

Long COVID is a chronic condition affecting one or more organ systems that occurs after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and lingers for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state. Despite its prevalence, the condition remains widely misunderstood, under-researched, and stigmatized.

The Living with Long COVID exhibition brings these realities to light and offers a unique opportunity to intimately understand Long COVID through the eyes of those living it.

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N95 respirators

Pushing for a national N95 masking standard

Published September 16, 2025

Published by: The Peak
Published on: September 16, 2025
By Niveja Assalaarachchi

On June 20, the Canadian Standards Association, also known as the CSA Group, released a new draft version of CSA standard Z94.4, which was open to public consultation until August 19. It sets to regulate workplace standards around “the selection, use, and care of respirators.” The CSA Group is a non-profit organization which creates non-legally binding but precedent-setting regulations for professional workplace standards. As reported by DoNoHarm BC, the rule changes would see new nationwide respirator requirements that mandate the use of respirators like N95 masks instead of surgical masks by workers, patients, and visitors in healthcare settings.

The CSA Group’s new draft has received praise from healthcare advocates and workers alike. DoNoHarm BC was one of the leading organizations pushing the public to support and contribute to the CSA Group’s consultation process.

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climate crisis

Smoke from Canada’s wildfires killed nine-year-old Carter Vigh – and 82,000 others around the world

Published September 10, 2025

Published by: The Guardian
Published on: September 10, 2025
By Ajit Niranjan

Amber Vigh had taken the usual precautions when bringing her nine-year-old son, Carter, to summer camp in July 2023. There were no fires near their home in British Columbia, Canada. Her air quality app showed low levels of pollution. She could not smell any smoke.

Carter, a music-loving Lego enthusiast who had asthma, brought along his smiling shark tooth-patterned emergency kit that held an inhaler, allergy pill and EpiPen. When smoke did roll in from the north, Vigh took him indoors.

But at home that evening, Carter began to cough uncontrollably. Vigh and her husband, James, followed the doctors’ checklist – emergency inhaler, drink of water, steroid inhaler – and gave him a bath to cool down. Then, “all of a sudden, he started coughing again like crazy”, said Vigh.

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British Columbia

Environment Canada expands air alerts as wildfire smoke spreads over B.C.

Published September 5, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press / CTV News
Published on: September 5, 2025

VANCOUVER — Environment Canada’s special air-quality statements for wildfire smoke have now expanded to cover most of British Columbia, with air quality at its worst possible level in parts of the Fraser Valley.

The alerts advise people to limit or avoid outdoor activity and are now in place for all of B.C. outside of Vancouver Island, the Central and North Coast, Haida Gwaii and about a quarter of the province on its northern edge.

An air-quality warning continues to be in effect in Metro Vancouver, covered by orange smoke haze for a third day.

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climate crisis

Wildfire smoke prompts air quality warnings on B.C.’s South Coast

Published September 3, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: September 3, 2025
By Andrew Weichel

Air quality warnings have been issued for much of B.C.’s South Coast, where smoke wafting from wildfires on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border has created hazy skies.

Elevated levels of fine particulate matter have been detected across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as a result, creating a risk of negative health effects.

The conditions are expected to last “a few days, or until there is a change in the weather,” according to a notice posted on the Metro Vancouver Regional District website on Wednesday.

As of the early afternoon, the smoke had pushed Vancouver to the top of a “most-polluted major city” ranking from IQAir, a Swiss company that develops air quality monitoring systems.

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Alberta

Albertans can get COVID-19 vaccinations for free in B.C.

Published August 21, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: August 21, 2025
By Michelle Bellefontaine

Albertans who don’t qualify for free COVID-19 vaccinations in their home province can get one in British Columbia.

B.C.’s Ministry of Health confirmed that detail in response to a query from CBC News. Canadian residents can get vaccinated due to a reciprocal agreement between all provinces and territories.

“Any publicly funded immunization in B.C. can be provided at no cost to any Canadian travelling within the province,” a statement from the ministry said. “This includes providing publicly funded COVID-19 vaccine to people of Alberta.”

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tick-borne diseases

Tick-borne Rocky Mountain spotted fever spreading in Canada

Published August 20, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: August 20, 2025
By Emily Chung

Quebec has reported a case of the potentially deadly tick-borne disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever that was likely acquired in Ontario or Quebec. The disease was also reported in dogs in Ontario earlier this year.

Here’s what you need to know about preventing, identifying and treating the disease.

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British Columbia

Funding Changes Might Leave BC’s Long-COVID Patients in the Lurch

Published August 12, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: August 12, 2025
By Michelle Gamage

Upcoming changes to B.C.’s Medical Services Plan could affect how thousands of long-COVID patients access care.

Starting Sept. 1, MSP is capping all online group medical visits to just 20 patients, to “ensure there can still be a one-on-one interaction between each patient and the attending physician,” the Health Ministry told The Tyee.

Most long-COVID care in B.C. is currently delivered through large online group telehealth sessions from the Bowen Island-based BC Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS, and Fibromyalgia, or BC-CLMF, which currently has over 5,200 patients — with 25 more referred every day, Dr. Ric Arseneau told The Tyee.

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long COVID

B.C. plans to cut payments for long-COVID clinics, leaving patients in lurch

Published July 27, 2025

Published by: Victoria Times Colonist
Published on: July 27, 2025
By Alec Lazenby, Vancouver Sun

A virtual clinic that treats patients for long COVID and other chronic conditions is warning that it may have to partially shut down if the province goes ahead with changes on Sept. 1 that would limit the number of patients who can take part in online group appointments.

The B.C. Centre for Long COVID, ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia, run by internal medicine doctors Ric Arseneau and R. Jane McKay, treats 5,000 patients for a variety of chronic diseases, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, which causes extreme fatigue, and PoTS, a heart rate condition.

After each patient goes through an initial one-on-one consultation, follow-up appointments can take the form of a virtual group medical visit of up to 12 patients, where either Arseneau or McKay take at least one to two questions per patient, or a group medication visit of up to 50 patients, which allows for presentations on different medications and then takes questions from patients.

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labour rights

Human Rights Tribunal Affirms Immunocompromised Worker’s Right to Seek Workplace Accommodations

Published July 22, 2025

Published by: PressProgress
Published on: July 22, 2025
By Emma Arkell

A human rights tribunal has found that an employer’s failure to provide accommodation for an immunocompromised worker amounted to discrimination on the basis of disability.

The April decision by the BC Human Rights Tribunal affirmed that immunodeficiency is a physical disability, and that in raising concerns about his immunodeficiency multiple times, the worker who brought the case forward had given his employer enough information to trigger the employer’s responsibility to look into ways to accommodate that disability.

Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer and policy analyst based in Vancouver, praised the decision as broadening the discussion of what it means to create an accessible workplace.

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British Columbia

B.C. health minister praises U.S. recruitment, says 780 applications in 2 months

Published July 16, 2025

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on: July 16, 2025

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s health minister says the province has received almost 780 job applications from qualified American health professionals as part of its recruitment campaign.

Josie Osborne says more than 2,250 doctors, nurses and other health professionals have signed up for webinars and expressed interest in working in B.C. since March.

Bylaw changes implemented by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. this month mean U.S.-trained doctors can become fully licensed in B.C., without further assessment if they hold certifications from various American medical boards.

Osborne says that means Canadian doctors trained in the U.S. can “come home” and the path also becomes easier for American physicians.

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British Columbia

BC’s Largest Pocket of Measles Cases Likely Peaking, Officials Say

Published July 10, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: July 10, 2025
By Michelle Gamage

The largest outbreak of measles in B.C. might be cresting, but there are still pockets of people without immunity spread across the province, which could lead to future outbreaks, say public health officials.

Most of the province’s confirmed 102 cases are in the northeast, where the disease has been spreading for the last couple weeks, said Dr. Martin Lavoie, deputy provincial health officer, at a press conference earlier today.

“This is not a pandemic, but measles is very serious,” Lavoie said.

He added that while there’s 102 confirmed cases there’s likely more as some people are resting and recovering at home, and have not been directly counted by health officials.

Dr. Jong Kim, chief medical officer for Northern Health, said B.C. has “likely seen the height of the wave” of the outbreak in the northeast, but that further cases are still possible, especially if the virus finds another pocket of the population where people have not received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

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British Columbia

B.C.’s premier says measles spikes across Canada a result [of] anti-vax ‘recklessness’

Published June 25, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: June 25, 2025
By Chuck Chiang

VANCOUVER – British Columbia Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is “the sadly predictable outcome” of the “recklessness” of anti-vaccination politicians.

Eby says the disease is “no joke,” given the potentially serious impact on those infected, and it’s preventable with two vaccine shots.

He told a Vancouver news conference that the focus for provincial public health authorities now is to make sure that people who are not protected receive full vaccination.

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British Columbia

Check this list to see if you were exposed to measles in B.C. this month

Published June 24, 2025

Published by: Vancouver Sun
Published on: June 24, 2025

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has released detailed reports of where people may have been exposed to measles in B.C.

B.C. CDC says there are 12 currently active cases of measles in B.C. and that 17 new cases were reported in Fraser Health, Interior Health and Northern Health regions since June 19. Forty-nine cases have been reported this year.

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British Columbia

BC Won’t Require Measles Vaccination for Schools

Published May 29, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: May 29, 2025
By Michelle Gamage

Canada is in the middle of the largest measles outbreak it has seen in generations, with 2,515 cases so far this year as of May 17, which is the most recent data reported by Health Canada as of Monday.

Despite the spread of the disease B.C. is not considering making measles immunization mandatory for attending school, as it is in Ontario and New Brunswick, the Health Ministry told The Tyee in an emailed statement.

“There is no requirement from the province for students to be vaccinated to attend school, or that students’ immunization records be provided as part of school registration,” the ministry said.

Instead its strategy is mostly a reactive one, where it will use data to respond to outbreaks and exposures. B.C. will also encourage people to get vaccinated and will open school-based immunization clinics in some areas with low vaccination rates.

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Chronically ill artists honour International Awareness Month for chronic neuro-immune diseases

British Columbia

Chronically ill artists honour International Awareness Month for chronic neuro-immune diseases

Published April 30, 2025

Published by: Opera Mariposa
Published on: April 30, 2025

Vancouver’s Opera Mariposa presents month-long programme benefitting the ME | FM Society of BC

April 30, 2025 (Vancouver, BC) – This May, Canadian artists are rallying the community to support people with chronic and post-infectious illnesses. From May 1 to June 1, Vancouver’s Opera Mariposa is presenting their 2025 Benefit + Awareness Month: an all-digital charity extravaganza featuring art, prizes, and special programming benefiting the ME | FM Society of BC.

May is the International Awareness Month for chronic neuro-immune diseases, and Mariposa’s programming is created by and for people impacted by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME or ME/CFS), Long Covid, and Fibromyalgia. These complex multisystem illnesses affect millions of people across Canada – and that number is rising, given that they can be triggered by viruses, including COVID-19.

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Colourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (gold), with a purple background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

British Columbia

New travel-related measles case found in the Lower Mainland

Published April 26, 2025

Published by: CityNews
Published on: April 26, 2025
By Emma Crawford

A new case of travel-related measles has been confirmed in the Lower Mainland this week.

Fraser Health says a traveller from Ontario who went to Vancouver and Chilliwack on April 20 has a confirmed infection of the virus.

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Ontario

Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began

Published April 24, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: April 24, 2025
By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Public Health Ontario is reporting 95 new measles cases since last week, bringing the total number of people infected past 1,000.

It says a total of 1,020 people have had measles since the province’s outbreak began last October.

The agency says the ongoing rise in cases is “due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized.”

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Tag: British Columbia

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Vancouver’s Opera Mariposa presents month-long programme benefitting the ME | FM Society of BC

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