In the news: Premiers meeting ahead of CUSMA review, Global Affairs job cuts coming

By Canadian Press on January 28, 2026.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

Premiers meet in Ottawa ahead of CUSMA review

Canada’s premiers are set for two days of huddling in the nation’s capital with the economy, affordability and trade expected to be high on the agenda.

The premiers meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, and will want to show a united “Team Canada” front as trade tensions rise again with Canada’s largest trading partner.

The meetings come a year after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office and hit Canada with blistering tariffs, and just ahead of negotiations to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, due for its first formal review this summer.

Trump threatened Canada in recent days with 100 per cent across-the-board tariffs on exports, which would land on top of the sectors already hit by steep U.S. tariffs, such as steel, softwood lumber and vehicles.

Robertson wants more transitional housing support

The federal housing minister says he wants to see the provinces step up their support to get people off the street and into long-term homes.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Gregor Robertson said he’s generally happy with provincial and municipal support for Ottawa’s bid to ramp up affordable housing construction and double the pace of homebuilding across the country.

Robertson said Build Canada Homes — the federal government’s new agency launched in September to scale up affordable, non-market housing in Canada — has so far received about 450 proposals from provinces, cities and private sector developers to build new affordable housing projects.

“I’m really encouraged right out of the gate because the need is so high in almost all provinces and territories,” he said.

Global Affairs employees warned of job cuts

Thousands of employees at Global Affairs Canada have been issued notices warning they may lose their jobs, months before a foreign policy review is completed to give the department updated priorities.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the department has the broad outlines of Canada’s foreign policy, which can shape staffing priorities, but the diplomats’ union says the cuts at Global Affairs Canada are premature.

“I just don’t understand why we’re cutting without defining what it is that we want to do and what we need,” said Pam Isfeld, a career diplomat and president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. “I just don’t understand why you would not build the organization that you want once you’ve defined your priorities.”

Isfeld said about a third of her union’s total membership — about 700 people — have received the notices. Another 1,172 notices went to GAC employees with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, 477 notices to members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, and 746 were sent to GAC members of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees.

Quebec woman who scalded young boy back in court

A Quebec woman who scalded a 10-year-old boy with boiling water last year over a prank is expected in court today for a sentencing hearing.

Stéphanie Borel pleaded guilty to aggravated assault last September, acknowledging she acted out of frustration over children ringing her doorbell repeatedly as a prank.

Sentencing arguments are scheduled at the courthouse in Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s South Shore, where the Crown prosecutor is expected to argue for jail time.

The boy, whose identity is subject to a publication ban, suffered serious burns to about four per cent of his body, including his face, chest and shoulder blade, after the incident on Oct. 2, 2024.

Magnitude 3.7 earthquake shakes Southern Ontario

If it felt like the earth moved beneath your feet late Tuesday night, it did, if you were in Southern Ontario.

Earthquakes Canada recorded a magnitude 3.7 quake north of Toronto just before 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The agency noted the tremor was centred near the community of Orillia and occurred at a depth of five kilometres.

The site’s “Did you feel it?” link had at least 2,000 reports of people feeling the rumble, from as far west as Kitchener, through Toronto, and east to Belleville, and as far south as Niagara Falls.

New stamps honour Black Canadian hip-hop icons

Maestro Fresh Wes was among the stars witnessing the unveiling of Canada Post stamps honouring hip-hop for Black History Month.

The national postal service revealed the look of three new stamps featuring the Toronto rapper and producer; rapper and actress Michie Mee; and the Quebec trio Muzion.

“It is so exciting to see us honoured in the name of hip-hop with Canada Post,” Mee said with tears in her eyes following the unveiling of the stamps on Tuesday.

The Jamaican-born rapper, who is known as the godmother of Canadian rap, said being featured on the stamp means the world to her and her loved ones.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2026

The Canadian Press