First Canadian babies of 2021 born as the clock struck midnight

Genevieve Beaulieu and Logan Allen are shown in this handout image provided by the regional health authority for eastern Montreal island with their baby Arthur who was born at midnight Friday Jan. 1, 20201 at the Maisonneu

MONTREAL - A baby born in a Montreal hospital may have been the first Canadian newborn of 2021.

The Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital said Friday that a boy named Arthur was born precisely at midnight.

The infant, weighing in at seven pounds and four ounces, is the first child for parents Genevieve Beaulieu and Logan Allen.

Less than a minute later, another New Year's baby arrived in Toronto.

The Humber River Hospital said in a post on Twitter that parents Bich Phuy and Patrick welcomed baby Thomas 48 seconds after midnight.

The hospital says the whole family is happy and healthy.

Baby Arthur had close competition for first newborn of the year.

The Markham Stouffville Hospital, northeast of Toronto, said Abygail Gosselin was born at 12:00:59.

While Lara Michelle Adaszkiewicz was born at 12:01 and 10 seconds to Aleksandra Modelewska and Martin Adaszkiewicz at the McGill University Health Centre, also in Montreal.

The Montfort hospital in Ottawa reported the region's first baby of 2021 arrived at nine minutes after midnight. Harlow Winter Margaret Bianco is the fifth child for parents Brandy McCann and Bruce Bianco.

The British Columbia provincial government said the first baby born in the province in 2021 was born at the Women's Hospital in Vancouver at 12:21 a.m.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2021.