The Salish Sea has been alive with rare cetaceans lately. Risso’s dolphins were sighted Friday near Nanaimo in the Strait of Georgia, and last week a fin whale was spotted foraging for food near a popular beach in North Seattle. 1

Residents of the Seabreeze Inne on Salt Spring Island are breathing a sigh of relief after the province announced new permanent homes and shelter space for the homeless and most vulnerable.

BC Housing is in the early stages of redevelopment planning for the decades-old Evergreen Terrace affordable housing complex in Victoria.

For the majority of the pandemic, the provincial health officer has advised British Columbians to get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms. That message changed dramatically on Friday. 1

With thousands of health-care workers calling in sick in B.C. each day as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread through the province, the head of the BC Nurses Union says a lack of access to personal protective equipment is contributing to the problem.

What happens if someone begins to develop COVID-19 symptoms right before they’re supposed to get their booster shot? Dr. Yanet Valdez, an immunologist and the B.C. lead for COVID-19 Resources Canada, gave CTV News Vancouver some insight. 1

Wildfires, sweltering heat and extensive flooding in British Columbia last year have underscored the importance of strengthening the agricultural sector's resilience to the effects of climate change and extreme weather, experts say.

A study that links low summertime water flows in a British Columbia river with lower productivity across 22 generations of a struggling salmon population could help guide how rivers are managed to support fish, the authors say.

Patients who don’t have COVID-19 could end up in the same hospital rooms as patients who do have the virus, B.C. health officials said Friday. 3

When the provincial health officer told British Columbians she was removing isolation requirements and testing for most of the population and compared managing COVID-19 in similar terms to the flu or common cold, many people were shocked and some instantly alarmed. 44

Across the province, nine COVID-19-related deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, including the one in Island Health. 44

The University of Victoria campus was quiet on Friday, but come Monday, students will be back as in-person learning resumes. 3

A company that ships goods between Vancouver Island and the mainland says a strike by its workers has been averted at the last minute.

British Columbia is cancelling provincial graduation assessments for students in Grades 10 and 12 due to staffing shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 3

The BC SPCA says more than 200 beef cattle were seized from a Vancouver Island property after the owner reportedly left them in distressing conditions.

Island Health declared three new COVID-19 outbreaks at care homes on Vancouver Island Friday.

The province says the change will come into effect on Feb. 1 and will help divert the plastic jugs and paper cartons from the landfill.

The Canadian navy will get a rare shoutout in China next month as Canada's Olympic sliding athletes are set to compete on sleds paying homage to historic warships at the Beijing Games. 1

The Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District has announced its plans to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all district staff.

More than a million dollars' worth in health-order and quarantine violation tickets have been handed out in B.C. since the summer after COVID-19 arrived in the province.

Mounties in Langford, B.C., are asking the public for help identifying a man who allegedly threw a cup of coffee at a Tim Hortons employee.

The number of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in B.C. care homes continues to grow during the Omicron surge, but deaths in this wave remain less common than they were during previous ones. 1

Police say a man who was reported missing from Nanaimo, B.C., earlier this week has been found dead.

British Columbia is beginning to manage COVID-19 more like the common cold, the province's top doctor said Friday while explaining major shifts in the government's approach to the pandemic. 4

Island Health is warning of an increase in overdoses and drug poisonings in Greater Victoria.

The province's top doctor is giving the public a better idea of what a previously promised "deep dive" into COVID-19 hospitalizations will entail. 4

Pacific FC head couch Pa-Modou Kah is heading south to join FC Dallas after two years with the Vancouver Island team, and a recent championship win at the 2021 Canadian Premier League. 2

BC Hydro says that energy use saw record-high peaks in both the summer and winter of last year.

Just weeks away from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the Canadian women’s curling team is ready to rock with the help of a local coaching legend.

Three residents of Fir Park Village in Port Alberni have tested positive, as have four residents each at The Summit and Parkwood Court long-term care homes in Victoria.