World Report - October20: Monday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Immigration processing times are reaching heights in Canada that some are calling shocking.Federal Liberals unveil new anti fraud strategy aimed at protecting Canadians from finance scams.More investment is flowing into Canada's oil patch from the United States.Scottish court orders extradition of three men to stand trial in Canada for 2023 homicide of Ontario restauranteur.Fragile Gaza ceasefire appears to be holding despite weekend violence.Hundreds of workers who oversee the U-S nuclear stockpile are being sent home today due to the ongoing government shutdown.

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This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Marcia Young. The immigration processing times are reaching heights in Canada that some people are calling shocking. It can be decades for some programs. As the CBC's Priscilla Kisang Hwang reports, there is concern the government may start canceling applications. We were shocked.

Pushko's family applied for permanent residents this June under Canada's humanitarian and compassionate program. Her family fled the Russia-Ukraine war to Canada in 2023 and they're ready to settle. But last week, they were among thousands who learned their processing time skyrocketed to more than 10 years compared to around two years when they first applied. I don't know how it's possible. I just hope that it's a big mistake. But the new immigration minister, Lena Dieb, Transition documents paint a bleaker picture. For the humanitarian stream, new applicants face a weight of up to 50 years.

And weights range from 19 to 35 years for other economic pathways. The minister's office says those numbers are not an error. It's crazy. Some lawyers suspect these unviable wait times, paired with the liberals pending border security bills like Bill C12, which grant the minister sweeping powers, may lead to mass cancellations by the the government of applications already in Q, immigration lawyer Stephen Mirrens. And for it to just balloon to 50 years is unheard of in the Canadian immigration context. Part of why they may be being quiet about it is because the solution involves Bill C-12,

and they know the panic and reaction that that will cause. To that, the minister's spokesperson Laura Blondo said, Well, we can't presuppose any future policy decision. The Immigration Department told CBC, the Cushko's wait time is approximately 10 years, leaving them helpless and worried for what comes next. Priscilla Kisan Huang, CBC News, Ottawa. The federal liberals are unveiling their plan

to protect Canadians from financial fraud. Finance Minister Francois Filippe Champen making the pre-budget announcement this morning as the House returns after the Thanksgiving break. Budget 2025 will introduce Canada's first-ever national anti-fraud strategy. As fraud because more sophisticated, more Canadians are being impacted. As fraudsters increasingly use text messages, emails, and social media to target victims. This means firm across the technology, telecommunication, and financial sectors must step up.

Sheffin says the new bill will require these sectors to work together to better protect Canadians. It will also see the establishment of a new financial crimes agency. Last year alone, financial scams cost Canadian $643 million. There is a new trend emerging in the Canadian oil patch. As Paula DeHatchik reports, more investment is flowing in and it's coming from south of the border. U.S. investors are getting more interested in the Canadian oil patch. And Preal Manjar would know. She's an investment analyst based in Baltimore and says the trend started picking up about a year ago.

Maniur says the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion has meant more export capacity for Canadian oil and more optimism about the sector. The pipeline runs from Alberta to the B.C. Coast. Jeremy McRae, with BMO Capital Marks, thinks the shift is also linked to a change of leadership in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledging to make Canada an energy superpower. There is a bit of a change of tone that is making investors a little bit more comfortable coming into Canada. McRae says there's been an uptick and interest from U.S. firms and a bit of a dip from Canadian investors. Ryan Schmidt, CEO of Tamarack Valley Energy, says some investors on this side of the border

have pulled out of oil and gas for climate reasons. But I don't see that in the United States. David Samra, a portfolio manager based in Boston, says for him, it's just about dollars and cents. These companies have decades of cash flow generation ahead of them. Much of Canada's oil production happens in the oil sands, where facilities are expensive to build but can run for years without a lot of new capital. spending. And as a result, these companies will continue to churn out cash over the next 30 to 40 years. It's not clear yet where the trend will go next, but CEOs say they're also seeing more

interest from investors in Europe and Asia. Paula Duhatchewa, CBC News, Calgary. A court in Scotland has ordered the extradition of three men to stand trial in Canada. The trio is charged in the killing of an Owens Sound Ontario restaurant owner. Sherif Rahman died outside his business in the summer of 2023. Robert Evans allegedly punched Rahman after being confronted over an unpaid bill. Evans, along with his father and uncle, will stand trial on charges, including manslaughter and being accessories after the fact. Court documents show the men had allegedly entered Canada using fake passports.

Israel says aid is resuming to Gaza following an outbreak of violence on the weekend. Trucks line up this morning at the Rafa border crossing loaded with food, medicine, and other emergency aid. The U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency says some deliveries have resumed, but the agency says that aid is well below what is needed. Meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and mid-east advisor, Jared Kushner, and U.S. envoy Steve Whitkoff, arrived in Israel today. Vice President J.D. Vance is due to. tomorrow to help pressure both sides to work to keep the fragile ceasefire intact. Hundreds of workers who oversee the nuclear stockpile in the U.S. are being sent home due to the ongoing government shutdown. Some experts are criticizing the move. The CBC's Willie Lowry is

following the story in Washington. Willie, how will this furlough affect operations? Well, everything will slow down. In its 25-year history, the National Nuclear Security Administration a semi-autonomous organization under the Department of Energy has never had to furlough workers, making this uncharted territory. The organization is in charge of modernizing the country's nuclear stockpile. Any delay in work slows down that process. The NNSA is sending 80% of its workers' home. That's a big number.

According to Politico, some 375 employees who have been deemed essential will stay on the job, but the furloughs have many lawmakers, concerned. These are not employees that you want to go home. They're managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid. That was Republican Representative Mike Rogers from Alabama. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright is expected to address the staffing changes and their impact on national security later today. Willie, we also understand there's a push to pay the troops during the shutdown. That's right. There are reports that Republicans are hoping to table a bill this week

that would allow the government to pay some federal workers who are required to work even though the government is shut down. That would include members of the U.S. military. Last week, President Trump signed an order allowing the Pentagon to pay soldiers on October 15th using money from the Defense Department's research and development funds. But as the shutdown drags on, there will be fewer funds to draw from, and paying the troops will get harder. Later today, the Senate is expected to vote once again on the continuing resolution bill that, if passed, would fund the government for the next seven weeks. They'll need 60 votes.

Thank you, Willie. My pleasure. The CBC's Willie Lowry in Washington. There is some encouraging news for those suffering from anxiety disorders. Health Canada has approved a clinical trial of the use of salocybin in small doses. Trevor Purchard explains. Most of the research on psychedelics has been focused on what we call the macrodosis. Dr. Claudio Suarez wants to change that.

He heads up the Center for Psychedelics Health and Research in Kingston, Ontario, and his team is asking if microdosing psilocybin could bring relief to people with generalized anxiety disorder. Not everybody can have access to psychotherapy. Not everybody can tolerate antidepressants. It's being touted as the first clinical trial greenlit by Health Canada to probe the effects of small doses of psilocybin. Participants would take it daily at home, two to three milligrams at most for four weeks.

Some would then stay on it while others would get a placebo. The trial comes as anxiety rates have been rising more than doubling since 2012, according to Statistics Canada. While it may not be as impairing to the individual as, say, really severe depression, the number of people with it is so much more that the collective burden of general anxiety

is actually very, very high. Dr. Tyler Kaster is a psychiatrist at Toronto's Center for Addictions in Mental Health. He's intrigued by the microdosing research, but warns it's still early days. These interventions are exciting. They're worth exploring, but we don't know whether it should be used for clinical treatment as of yet.

Suarez says if the trial goes well, it could lead to a larger one down the road and perhaps eventually new anxiety drugs. Trevor Pritchard, CBC News, Ottawa. That is the latest national and international news from World Report News anytime, CBCNews.ca. I'm Marcia Young.