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TORONTO — Infectious disease experts are urging seniors to get the latest COVID-19 booster shot as uptake plunges five years after the coronavirus pandemic struck.

“We see that the protection is needed most for those who are at highest risk of COVID-19 severe disease,” said Matthew Tunis, executive secretary for the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

For most others, it’s not as urgent.

Tunis, a microbiology and immunology specialist, noted that thanks to high rates of early vaccinations, hybrid immunity is so prevalent in Canada that much of the population is well-protected against serious illness.

NACI issued COVID-19 guidance in January to that effect, and it’s meant to stand through summer 2026, barring the emergence of any variants that cause severe illness in the broader population.

Unlike influenza, COVID-19 has not settled into a seasonal pattern and is present year-round, Tunis said.

For that reason, along with the fact that immunity starts to wane about six months after getting a COVID-19 shot, NACI strongly recommends two doses per year of the most up-to-date vaccine for the most vulnerable. That includes seniors who are 80 years and older, residents of long-term care homes, and adults and children six months and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised due to an underlying condition or medical treatment that suppresses the immune system.

NACI also strongly recommends one shot per year for people between 65 and 79 years old, pregnant people, health-care workers, racialized groups and those with underlying medical conditions that could make them sicker if they get a COVID infection.

As for everyone else, individuals can decide whether they need a booster, ideally in consultation with a health-care provider, Tunis said.

Even though they may still get the virus, this group should have enough immunity from earlier vaccinations, infections or both to protect them from serious illness, infectious disease researchers say.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, more than 80 per cent of Canadians have had their primary two-dose series of COVID-19 vaccine. Uptake among seniors was very high, with more than 95 per cent of people 60 and over getting at least one dose.

As the virus that causes COVID-19 mutated into variants that could evade the immune system — most notably Delta and Omicron — manufacturers have updated the vaccine for booster shots.

But public enthusiasm for boosters has waned in recent years. The Public Health Agency’s most recent data from June 2024 shows only 18 per cent of the overall population got an updated shot for the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant.

Seniors have continued to get booster shots at much higher rates than the rest of the population but their uptake is also on the decline. Only about 62 per cent of people 80 and older got the XBB.1.5 shot — leaving an unacceptably high number of older seniors underprotected, experts say.

“Vaccine uptake among the vulnerable populations is the biggest issue,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO).

“They’re (designated) vulnerable for a reason. The evidence shows that they can get really sick and potentially die if they get COVID if they’re not up-to-date on their boosters,” she said.

PHAC did not have uptake data for the most up-to-date booster, targeted to the Omicron KP.2 subvariant, available since last fall. Experts fear the uptake among seniors is just as low.

“As people get older … their immune system sometimes needs a little bit more of a kick, like to get going. So those boosters can be really, really important,” Rasmussen said.

Up to this point, the federal government has paid for COVID-19 boosters. This year, that responsibility shifts to the provinces and territories.

Although they will still work with the federal government to get the best price through bulk procurement, each province and territory will decide how much of the latest booster to order and who will be eligible for the shots.

The Canadian Press reached out to all provinces and territories to ask what their COVID-19 vaccination rollout would be in the coming year. Many said they were reviewing NACI’s guidelines and did not yet have their fall plan — including whether or not they would fund the shot for people outside of the priority groups.

The exception was the Northwest Territories, which said in an emailed statement it would not turn anyone away.

“Targeted campaigns are not meant to exclude individuals but to help clients, families and communities quickly identify who is at most risk and make informed decisions,” a spokesperson said.

Experts say it’s important for the public to understand what the COVID-19 vaccine does — and what it doesn’t.

In the past, people commonly believed vaccines were only effective if they prevent infection, like the measles vaccine, which ensures the virus can’t replicate in the body. If enough people are vaccinated, that results in the most robust form of herd immunity, said Rasmussen.

But it’s very difficult to make a vaccine that does that for viruses that mutate, including COVID-19 and influenza, she said. That’s why the measure of success for the COVID-19 vaccine is its high effectiveness at preventing people from becoming seriously ill, being hospitalized or dying.

“Having a vaccine that is really good at preventing you from even getting infected is wonderful,” said Matthew Miller, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton.

“But I would argue that it’s even more important that a vaccine prevents severe manifestations because, you know, we can all kind of deal with common cold-like symptoms,” he said.

Tunis, of NACI, said the advisory committee continues to monitor COVID-19 to determine if it needs to change its guidance.

“We’ve seen strain updates roughly every year,” he said.

“It’s entirely possible that the virus changes again and the hybrid immunity that’s been established needs to actually be propped up with vaccination for younger populations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2025.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press


DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Facing the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, Duke University is preparing for the worst.

Like research universities around the United States, the private school in North Carolina’s Research Triangle would see a massive loss from Trump administration cuts to grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Duke would be among the hardest hit. In its previous fiscal year, Duke took in $580 million in NIH grants and contracts, 11th most among the country’s research institutions. The cuts are delayed temporarily by a court challenge, but universities nationwide have implemented hiring freezes, scaled back research and drawn up contingency plans in case the loss in funding takes effect.

Historically, the federal government has negotiated with colleges and universities on its contribution toward their operating costs. If a scientist wins a federal grant to fund their research, the government pays the school an additional amount as a percentage of the grant money.

At Duke, the current rate for these “indirect costs” — expenses such as utilities and laboratory maintenance — is about 61%. Last month, President Donald Trump’s administration set the rate cap at 15%, significantly less than most universities receive.

The cut in indirect costs is far from the only concern. Funding for new grants also slowed to a trickle after the NIH halted grant application review meetings in January. At Duke, NIH grant and contract award notices plummeted, dropping from 166 in January and February of 2024 to 64 so far in 2025, according to the university.

Already, the uncertainty is causing reverberations at Duke’s School of Medicine, which receives over three-quarters of the university’s NIH funding. Expansion projects are being shelved. Fewer Ph.D. students are being admitted. And researchers are assessing whether their projects can continue.

Payments maintain freezers and machines to grow cancer cells

The Trump administration has described indirect costs as “administrative bloat” and said the cuts would save more than $4 billion annually. The change would also free up more money for scientific research, officials said.

“The Trump administration is committed to slashing the cottage industry built off of the waste, fraud, and abuse within our mammoth government while prioritizing the needs of everyday Americans,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said.

Through NIH funding, universities for decades have partnered with the federal government to support scientists’ academic pursuits.

Duke pharmacology and cancer biology professor Donald McDonnell estimates his laboratory has received up to $40 million in NIH funding over 30 years. His lab developed a drug approved in 2023 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat metastatic breast cancer.

Upkeep for lab equipment, including machines to grow cancer cells and massive freezers for enzymes and chemicals, would be difficult to afford if indirect cost rates dropped to 15%, McDonnell said. His laboratory also likely will be in the red due to the uncertainty around NIH grants, which would lead to staff layoffs.

“The bottom line is, I can’t live, I can’t think in this chaos,” McDonnell said.

Duke’s total research budget last fiscal year was $1.33 billion, with $863 million coming from the federal government. Without NIH funding, many scientists would have to turn to private organizations and philanthropies, which typically offer substantially less money, researchers said.

“We have long-standing relationships with private funders and industry partners, and value the contributions they make, but federal funds by far provide the largest single source of research dollars,” said Geeta Swamy, executive vice dean of the School of Medicine.

The cap on indirect costs also would hinder research for incoming neurosurgery and biomedical engineering professor Nanthia Suthana, who is relocating from the University of California, Los Angeles.

To study brain activity and treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s disease, Suthana requires a lab large enough for patients to walk around while headsets and monitors capture heart rate, eye tracking, perspiration and brainwaves. Along the walls, 40 to 50 cameras — each costing about $5,000 — record their movements.

Her new lab is under construction, but Suthana said she is worried she will have to downsize within a year if funding uncertainties persist.

Ph.D. students are in limbo

Duke’s medical school has scaled back the number of Ph.D. students it will admit for the upcoming fall semester. Last year, the school brought in about 130 students, said Beth Sullivan, who oversees the school’s 17 biomedical Ph.D. programs. Now, the target is 100 students or less.

That means smaller class sizes over time and, in turn, a shrinking pipeline into medical research careers, she said.

“Our next generation of researchers are now poised on the edge of this cliff, not knowing if there’s going to be a bridge that’s going to get them to the other side, or if this is it,” Sullivan said.

Of the more than 630 Ph.D. students in the medical school, nearly all the students in their second year and beyond receive federal support from either NIH or the National Science Foundation.

Third-year doctoral student Caleb McIver was applying for an NIH diversity supplement — a funding opportunity to encourage professors to train minority students — when information about the initiative was removed from the agency’s website. McIver, who is Black, is now looking into other NIH grants without ties to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which the Trump administration has been wiping out of the federal government.

“I’m pretty stressed,” McIver said. “I mean, I need funding, so we need to find it.”

Duke reconsiders plans for new research building

The university had been planning to build a new research building on the site of an old, recently vacated building. Now those plans are on hold, School of Medicine Vice Dean Colin Duckett said.

Even smaller projects like renovating a building floor can’t start because of the budget uncertainty. Hundreds of people working in shuttered labs will consolidate in other buildings. If the indirect costs rate drops to 15%, there also would be widespread layoffs, Duckett said.

Duckett’s job previously focused on recruiting the brightest scientists and providing them with resources at Duke, he said. Now, he has taken on a much different role.

“It’s damage control,” he said. “It’s how to survive as an institution.”

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Makiya Seminera, The Associated Press







WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are looking to do what, for them, is almost unheard of —- approving government funding on their terms with little help from Democrats.

Speaker Mike Johnson is teeing up a bill that would generally fund federal agencies at current levels for the remainder of the budget year ending Sept. 30. That would mean defense and non-defense programs would be funded at 2024 levels. Congress must act by midnight March 14.

It’s a risky approach. Normally, when it comes to keeping the government fully open for business, Republicans have had to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan measure that both sides can support. That’s because Republicans almost always lack the votes to pass spending bills on their own.

This time, Republicans have hopes of going it alone. They plan to muscle the funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, though the House, and then dare Senate Democrats to oppose it and risk being blamed for a government shutdown.

Crucially, the strategy has the backing of President Donald Trump, who has shown an ability so far in his term to hold Republicans in line.

“Let’s get this Bill done!” Trump said on social media.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., says he has never voted for a continuing resolution, what lawmakers often call a CR, but he is on board with Johnson’s effort. He says he has confidence in Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to make a difference on the nation’s debt.

“I don’t like CRs,” Norman said. “But what’s the alternative? Negotiate with Democrats? No.”

“I freeze spending for six month to go identify more cuts? Somebody tell me how that’s not a win in Washington,” added Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, another lawmaker who has often frequently voted against spending bills but supports the six-month continuing resolution.

Republicans are also hoping that resolving this year’s spending will allow them to devote their full attention to extending the individual tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term and raising the nation’s debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic federal default.

But Democratic leaders are warning that the decision to move ahead without consulting them increases the prospects for a shutdown. One of their biggest concerns is the flexibility the legislation would give the Trump administration on spending.

“We cannot stand by and accept a yearlong power grab CR that would help Elon take a chainsaw to programs that families rely on and agencies that keep our communities safe,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Democratic leadership in both chambers has stressed that Republicans have the majority and are responsible for funding the government. But they also have been wary of saying how Democrats would vote on a continuing resolution.

“We have to wait to see what their plan is,” Schumer said. “We’ve always believed the only solution is a bipartisan solution, no matter what.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier this week that the Democratic caucus would meet and discuss the legislation at the “appropriate moment.” But he struck a more forceful tone Friday.

Jeffries said Democrats are ready to negotiate a “meaningful, bipartisan spending agreement that puts working people first.” But he said the “partisan continuing resolution” threatens to cut funding for key programs, such as veterans benefits and nutritional assistance for low-income families.

“That is not acceptable,” Jeffries said.

While continuing resolutions generally keep spending flat, many lawmakers say that failing to keep pace with inflation actually leads to a cut in services.

Trump has been meeting with House Republicans in an effort to win their votes on the legislation. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, along with more than a dozen other lawmakers, met with Trump on Wednesday.

“I’m open to it,” Burchett said. “But I want to see what’s in it.”

Republicans have a 218-214 majority in the House, so if all lawmakers vote, they can afford only one defection if Democrats unite in opposition. The math gets even harder in the Senate, where at least seven Democrats would have to vote for the legislation to overcome a filibuster — and that’s assuming all 53 Republicans vote for it.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., has said that passage of the measure covering the remainder of the fiscal year doesn’t preclude further negotiations to pass the regular appropriations bills for the budget year.

A Democratic aide speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that such talks have reopened as the two sides try to reach agreement on topline spending levels. The talks could amount to a Plan B should the continuing resolution falter.

Kevin Freking, The Associated Press




VANCOUVER — The federal Crown-Indigenous relations minister and the chief of the Musqueam Indian Band have initialled an agreement they say brings the band one step closer to self-governance.

Minister Gary Anandasangaree told a ceremony on Friday afternoon that initialling the Musqueam self-government agreement is a “significant milestone” and a “powerful step” toward self-determination.

He says once the agreement is in effect, it will revitalize the Musqueam Nation’s inherent right to self-government and restore the community’s ability to create laws, programs, services and develop economic opportunities on the nation’s own terms.

Chief Wayne Sparrow says being self-sufficient and looking after the community’s affairs has always been their vision.

Musqueam has a population of more than 1,400 people with more than 50 per cent living on reserve.

A joint statement says the next steps are for the Musqueam to launch community engagement and begin the process of ratifying the self-government agreement among its membership.

If approved, the agreement will need federal legislation to give it legal effect.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press


WINNIPEG — RCMP say remains found in a Winnipeg-area landfill have been identified as belonging to the victim of a serial killer.

They say the family of Morgan Harris has been notified.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced last week that possible remains had been found during a search of the landfill.

The province says another set of remains was part of the recovery at the landfill, and more information would be provided as facts are confirmed.

A search of the landfill started in December for the remains of Harris and another murder victim, Marcedes Myran.

Jeremy Skibicki was convicted last year of murdering Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah would do away with its universal mail-in voting system under a bill sent to its Republican governor as the state’s 2025 legislative session wrapped up on Friday.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a proposal requiring voters to opt in to receive their ballots in the mail, meaning they would no longer get them automatically. Voters who want to return their ballots by mail or to a drop box would need to write the last four digits of their driver’s license, state ID or Social Security number on the ballot return envelope. And starting in 2029, residents who vote in person would need to show a valid ID.

If Gov. Spencer Cox signs the bill into law, it would drastically change the voting system in one of just eight states — and the only led by Republicans — that allows all elections to be conducted by mail without a need to opt in.

Cox has repeatedly expressed confidence in the state’s election security but has said he may be open to changing the mail-in voting system so that votes can be tallied faster. Currently, ballots that are postmarked by the day before Election Day can be counted within the following two weeks. The proposal awaiting Cox’s signature would move up the deadline, requiring all ballots to be in the county clerk’s possession by 8 p.m. on Election Day. His office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.

Lawmakers pointed to the same legislative audits to make cases for and against the bill. The recent audits found no evidence of widespread fraud in Utah’s elections but identified some delays in removing deceased residents from voter rolls. Democrats said the changes were unnecessary and would make voting more difficult, while many Republicans said the voter roll issues indicated a need for new security measures.

“We have good elections in Utah,” said Sen. Mike McKell, one of the top Republicans in the chamber. “We have high confidence in our election process. We have high confidence in vote by mail. But we also have concerns with security, and what we’re trying to balance in this bill is how do we enhance security and at the same time making voting easy?”

Five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the bill, which passed with veto-proof margins in the House and fell one vote short of a veto-proof majority in the Senate. If Cox rejects the bill, Republican supporters would need to pull in one more senator to override his veto.

Sen. Nate Blouin, a Salt Lake City Democrat, said that by passing the bill, Republican lawmakers were feeding into “conspiracy thinking” around election security.

Republicans have sent their base mixed signals about mail-in voting since President Donald Trump falsely claimed the system was plagued with fraud to explain away his 2020 election loss. Trump continued to sow distrust even as his campaign team and the Republican National Committee began encouraging Republicans to vote by mail in the 2024 race to avoid giving Democrats an edge.

The vast majority of Utah residents mail in their ballots or deposit them in drop boxes.

Earlier versions of the bill received strong pushback from Utah’s county clerks, who have since withdrawn their opposition. But some say they have lingering concerns that the changes will make elections less secure.

The measure instructs clerks to prioritize checking ID numbers over the current practice of matching signatures to those on file. Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch warned that could lead to a rise in voter fraud because it’s easier to get ahold of someone’s state ID number than it is to forge their signature.

“It is absolutely not a perfect bill, and that’s why the clerks didn’t support it. We simply removed our opposition,” Hatch told The Associated Press. “A big reason why we did that is because we received assurances from sponsors that they would continue to work with us to fix the remaining issues we have to help make sure voters aren’t hurt and that the process is strengthened.”

Tribal IDs would also be an acceptable form of voter identification under the version of the bill that cleared the Legislature, alleviating concerns that it would disenfranchise Native American voters in the last state that gave them access to the ballot box.

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press


EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta’s trade sanctions on the United States will stay in place until U.S. President Donald Trump drops the threat of tariffs.

In a social media post Friday, Smith said the province’s measures, which include a ban on future purchases of American booze and video lottery terminals, will remain despite a partial but vague pause from Trump.

“Yesterday’s presidential executive order mandating the pause is unclear as to which goods it actually applies to and what legal forms and requirements will be needed to qualify,” Smith said.

“The government of Alberta will therefore be moving forward with our tariff response until these questions have been adequately dealt with and the continued threats and unilateral imposition of tariffs in contravention of the (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement) has stopped.”

She is also calling on Trump to abide by the trade agreement until Canada holds its next federal election. It’s expected to take place in April but won’t be called until after the federal Liberals elect a new leader Sunday.

Smith said doing so would respect Canada’s democratic process, calm markets and “demonstrate a good faith effort to respect the agreement negotiated by this very president during his first term, while a new agreement is being negotiated between our countries that addresses outstanding trade irritants.”

Besides cutting off U.S. liquor and VLTs, the Alberta government is also looking to prioritize purchases from Canadian companies or companies from countries that don’t violate trade agreements.

Alberta joined other provinces and the federal government in pushing ahead with trade sanctions despite Thursday’s partial rollback from the White House.

On Tuesday, Trump imposed sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, along with a 10 per cent levy on energy products, only to announce carve outs on a range of goods two days later.

The executive order delays the tariffs on goods that meet rules-of-origin requirements under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, often referred to as CUSMA, and lowers levies on potash to 10 per cent, until April 2.

Ottawa responded by suspending its second wave of retaliatory tariffs that were to take effect in three weeks. Canada’s first round of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion in American goods remained in effect.

Smith said the back-and-forth this week “continues to confuse Canadians and Americans alike” and has only led to volatile market shifts and investment uncertainty.

At a press conference earlier Friday, Smith said some businesses could qualify for CUSMA exceptions — it’s just a matter of filling out the paperwork. She said she also suspects a “vast majority” of Alberta energy products can be shipped into the U.S. tariff-free.

“When the U.S. administration says that 62 per cent of Canadian goods have not been compliant with the (trade agreement), it seems to me that’s a paperwork issue.”

Smith has said Alberta needs to take action, but she won’t curtail or impose counter-tariffs on oil and gas shipments, as it could escalate retribution from the U.S. and hurt Canadians.

While the province is pushing its agencies, school boards, Crown corporations and municipalities not to buy goods and services from American suppliers, Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam said many municipalities already have been.

“There isn’t going to be much of a change,” he said, adding some will need to take a closer look at whether they can switch to local suppliers and service providers where possible.

Alberta estimates $292 million in U.S. liquor products were sold in the province in 2023-24.

The province also buys about $100 million worth of VLTs each year, Smith said.

Her government has also pledged to help retailers voluntarily label Canadian and Albertan products and to reach free trade and labour mobility agreements with other provinces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press


MIAMI (AP) — A company owned by President Donald Trump sued Capital One on Friday, claiming the bank unjustifiably terminated over 300 of the Trump Organization’s accounts without cause in 2021, shortly after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The suit was filed by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust and Eric Trump in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The Trump Organization claims the decision by Capital One to close the accounts was an attack on free speech and free enterprise. The suit also claims the decision was a response to Trump’s political views.

“Capital One has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons,” the company said in a statement.

The Trump Organization claims it suffered considerable financial harm and losses when Capital One notified them in March 2021 that accounts holding millions of dollars would be closed in three months. The lawsuit claims Capital One violated the law and the Trump Organization is seeking damages.

The account closures were announced about two months after Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of several thousand Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results, which named President Joe Biden as the winner.

Other banks also stopped doing business with the Trump Organization around the same time, while the business and Trump family members were facing civil and criminal investigations.

The Associated Press


VANCOUVER — A British Columbia company has been given a $3.15 billion contract to build one of two icebreaker ships for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Public Services and Procurement Canada says in a statement that Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, located in North Vancouver, B.C., will be building one of the future polar icebreakers as part of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The federal government says the larger and more powerful ships will ensure coast guard operations continue at higher latitudes for longer periods, while allowing its fleet to better support Indigenous people, strengthen Arctic security, advance science, and better respond to maritime emergencies.

Seaspan Shipyards CEO John McCarthy says in the statement that construction of the ship begins next month

The other polar icebreaker is being built by Quebec-based Chantier Davie Canada Inc.

Minister of Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos says in the statement that the B.C. announcement marks a “significant milestone” in enhancing Canada’s maritime capabilities, and that the state-of-the-art vessel will support critical scientific research and environmental protection efforts and ensure national security in the Arctic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press


OTTAWA — The federal government is rejecting the recommendations of two of its own ministers and refusing to issue an emergency order protecting southern resident killer whales from “imminent threats” to their survival.

Instead, the Fisheries Department says “incremental measures will be pursued” to protect the salmon-eating whales that live in British Columbia waters.

Thursday’s decision has been decried by conservation groups that say the refusal to issue an emergency order puts the species at greater risk of extinction.

Groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada had asked for the order last year.

The government says in a statement the environment and fisheries ministers announced their opinion in November that the species faces “imminent threats to its survival and recovery.”

It says the ministers were then “obliged” to recommend an emergency order for their protection under the Species At Risk Act, but the government has declined.

“It has been determined that the most effective approach is to continue to manage human activities without making an emergency order, using existing legislative tools and non-regulatory measures,” the statement says.

“The decision also took into account social, economic, policy and other factors, and the broader public interest.”

The conservation groups said in a statement on Friday that existing protection measures “have thus far proven inadequate.”

They say “persistent and escalating threats” include inadequate salmon prey, underwater noise, fatal vessel strikes and pollution.

“The urgency of the situation demands that decision-makers act with the boldness required to save southern resident killer whales from extinction,” the groups say.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press