Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports the annual pace of housing starts jumped 22 per cent between March and April.
It says the increase is due to a 33 per cent rise in starts of multi-unit urban homes.
The national housing agency says the annual pace of housing starts was up 36 per cent in Vancouver, 54 per cent in Toronto and 43 per cent in Montreal.
Conroy says the prospect of a multibillion-dollar surplus similar to last year's budget is not in the forecast. She says that almost $6-billion surplus was an anomaly that allowed the NDP government to announce numerous spending initiatives on health, affordability, infrastructure and housing.
The North and West Vancouver school districts called a snow day for all public schools while Simon Fraser University cancelled morning classes at all its campuses and a statement from Vancouver International Airport says visibility and de-icing of aircraft have been affected by the unexpectedly heavy snowfall.
The suspect who police thought they were arresting was considered armed and dangerous, and potentially in possession of a firearm, so the department's emergency response team was deployed. Police say during the arrest officers shot the man with two rubber bullets.
The request comes in a letter signed by 75 non-governmental organizations, including the Canadian chapters of groups such as Oxfam, Save the Children, Unicef and World Vision. They're asking Freeland to increase international aid funding from the $8.15 billion pledged in the last budget and to gradually ramp that figure up to $10 billion by 2025.
The two Nelson residents, aged 68 and 79, were in the back seat of the Toyota and died at the scene. Police say the driver and front-seat passenger were taken to hospital while the driver of the pickup truck was not badly hurt.
The agency says more prohibited weapons were also found at a Chilliwack home the day after the arrest. It says the list of weapons included 13 conducted energy weapons, better known as Tasers, 360 stun guns, 171 stun batons and hundreds of prohibited knives and brass knuckles.