Connect 2 Canada Blog

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With an app called ROM Ultimate Dinosaurs, which uses a technology known as augmented reality, visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto get a virtual view of the real world that can be extended with graphics and other content. “As a museum we’re all about real-world objects,” Ms. Ruddell, assistant vice president of marketing for the museum said. “But being able to bring prehistoric dinosaurs back to life was a pretty amazing thing.” 

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The installation of new technology at the Peace and Queenston-Lewiston Bridges was announced today. The new system aims to help people cross the border faster and is expected to reduce border wait times for the travelling public and commercial carriers by up to one million hours per year.  New and advanced sensor technology near customs plazas and approach roads will measure and report delays, and relay this information to travellers. People will be able to plan their routes better, time their crossing, and select the bridge with the best wait-times. 

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On a historic weekend for Canadian tennis, Vancouver’s Filip Peliwo joined the likes of Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg in the record books, while Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., put her name alongside such greats as Tracy Austin and Martina Hingis. Read more about the rising stars of Canadian tennis. 

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A 50-person recovery team comprised of specialists from JPAC, the crew of the U.S. Naval Ship Grapple, and 18 divers from the U.S. Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two, will conduct underwater excavations to search for the remains of the victims of U.S. Air Force PBY-5A “Catalina”, a seaplane that sank about two kilometres off the coast of the small village on the North shore of the St. Lawrence River, in 1942.  Honourable Peter Kent, Canada’s Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada,stated:  “It is a great honour for Parks Canada to have been able to help bring to their final resting place the remains of these servicemen who suffered such a tragic fate.”  

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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced today that Canada and the United States are continuing to deliver on key commitments under the Beyond the Border Action Plan. Effective June 30, 2012, the CBSA lifted the three-year residency requirement for Canadian and United States citizens to apply to NEXUS. By amending the three-year residency requirement, the CBSA is extending NEXUS membership eligibility to citizens of Canada or the United States currently residing abroad, or who have recently returned to Canada or the United States.

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The University of Toronto high-energy physicists, along with their 2,500 ATLAS colleagues from 35 countries, have played a key role in the hunt for the Higgs. The ATLAS detector, key components of which were built at the University of Toronto, was designed to search for new particles in the highest mass collisions of high-energy proton collisions in the LHC. 

"This is a historic moment for particle physics and we all feel privileged to be part it. It has taken 20 years to design and build this experiment and today, we can say that one of its main goals has been achieved," said Pierre Savard, the Canadian ATLAS physics coordinator.

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Saskatchewan Environment Ministry's custom-refurbished Convair C-131H, painted in the official provincial colours of green and white and known in this country as Tanker 475, was once identified by the most auspicious call sign in the world: Air Force One. The plane was purchased by the Saskatchewan government for a reported $10 million in order to be used as a flagship in its provincial firefighting forces. Read the full story here. 

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The University of Calgary and the Calgary Herald will celebrate 100 years of the Calgary Stampede with the launch of the Stampede Stories public lecture and showcase next Wednesday at the university’s downtown campus. The four-day exhibition kicks-off on Wednesday, June 20 with a free pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. and public lecture by acclaimed writer and University of Calgary Professor Aritha van Herk. "We are proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of this iconic event and to share the University of Calgary’s stories and images with the community,” said University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon.  

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Two University of British Columbia researchers who developed the “ecological footprint” concept have won the prestigious Blue Planet Award for Sustainability, valued at nearly $645,000 CDN, at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil. Their project is an accounting system for estimating national, regional or individual demand on the biosphere. For more information on the Blue Planet Prize, visit the Asahi Glass Foundation website. 

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the announcement by  Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) members of their support for Canada joining the trade negotiations.  “Opening new markets and creating new business opportunities leads to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians,” said Prime Minister Harper. Canada will proceed to enter the talks at the earliest opportunity.

Countries party to the negotiations are: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

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The New York Times has published a travel piece on Montreal in its "36 Hours In..." series. The writers explore the diverse ethnic communities within Montreal’s urban sprawl and remarked that whether your passion is Syrian cuisine, contemporary art or vintage shopping, Montreal is serving it up with aplomb. C’est vrai.

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Air Canada will operate its first biofuel-powered flight today. Flight AC991 from Toronto to Mexico City is expected to generate at least 40 percent fewer emissions by using jet fuel derived from recycled cooking oil and through other fuel-saving measures, making it the most environmentally-friendly flight ever flown by Air Canada. The flight is part of an environmental demonstration by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to coincide with the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. 

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A U.S. Federal court has approved a Washington state company's plan to recover cargo, including any gold, on a Klondike gold rush-era ship that sank en route from Alaska to Vancouver in 1901. The SS Islander plunged to the ocean floor August 15 near Juneau, Alaska after hitting an iceberg. The luxurious 240-foot vessel could have had up to 480,000 ounces of gold aboard.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the conclusion of an agreement between Canada and the State of Michigan toward building a new publicly owned bridge crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.  “Our Government is taking the measures necessary to facilitate trade and investment between Canada and the United States in order to generate jobs, economic growth and long term prosperity,” said the Prime Minister. The project includes the bridge, Canadian and U.S. inspection plazas, and an interchange with Interstate-75 with construction expected to take four to five years.  

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A 12-person team led by Dr. Gary Kobinger at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg has isolated antibodies to the Ebola virus and produced a drug that has been found to be 100 per cent effective -- in test animals -- when used within 24 hours of exposure to the virus. Dr. Frank Plummer, chief science officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said the discovery has the potential to save many lives.

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As part of their commitment under the Beyond the Border Action Plan for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, Canada and the United States announce the establishment of Binational Port Operations Committees at eight Canadian airports that provide a U.S. preclearance service.

The eight Canadian airports are:

Vancouver International Airport, Vancouver, British Columbia

Calgary International Airport, Calgary, Alberta

Edmonton International Airport, Edmonton, Alberta

James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario

MacDonald-Cartier International Airport, Ottawa, Ontario

Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport, Montréal, Quebec

Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Halifax, Nova Scotia

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BioFuelNet Canada is one of three new Centres of Excellence announced by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, during an event held at McGill. With close to 100 researchers from almost 25 institutions across Canada, the network includes most of the researchers who are working in biofuels in the country. “Our goal is to develop the knowledge, the tools and the policies so that 25 per cent of the fuel used in Canada will come from advanced biofuels within 10 to 20 years,” explained Prof. Smith, Scientific Director of BioFuelNet Canada.