Santa Claus made his long awaited return to the Ottawa Valley, featuring in no less than three Christmas parades Saturday for the first time in three years.
The Cobden Santa Claus parade went Saturday afternoon, where Melanie Ly and her family, who moved to Cobden during the pandemic, got their first festive valley experience.
"We've been counting down the days for the parade so we are very excited," Ly said to CTV News.
"We've been able to do the farmer's market, which has been great, but other than that we haven't done very much. This will be our first big event out."
Renfrew County has been deprived of many large community events due to the pandemic, but the Santa Claus parades returned in full spirits for the first time since 2019.
"I think our main goal was to get the community back together after three years and people feeling comfortable and experiencing that Christmas parade again after a few years," said Andrea Runtz, who helped organize the Pembroke Santa Claus parade Saturday.
Despite the weather not setting the Christmas mood—with double-digit positive temperatures and sunshine—65 floats registered for Pembroke's retro-themed parade.
"I think old movies was definitely a big one," said Runtz.
"I know we have a float that's doing a National Lampoon's Christmas, old cartoon characters that were in childhood Christmas movies, so I think people are taking that theme and going back to their childhood Christmases and what was popular to them back when they were kids."
Santa's final stop in the Ottawa Valley Saturday was in Arnprior.
"You hear lots of comments about it on the street so I think everybody is ready for it," said Glenn Arthur, organizer of Arnprior's parade.
Fifty-five floats registered for the town's longest festive parade to date, which raised donations for the local food bank and paid tribute to former organizer Theresa Charron, who has since passed.
"A big pair of shoes to fill, without a doubt," said Arthur.
"Once the parade gets rolling, it will feel like Christmas is coming."
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkiye and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
A Strathcona County toddler has been rescued from suspected sexual exploitation, and the child's mother has been charged, police said.
U.S. President Joe Biden exhorted Congress Tuesday night to work with him to 'finish the job' of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation as he delivered a State of the Union address aimed at reassuring a country beset by pessimism and fraught political divisions.
Many Canadians are experiencing strains caused by the increased cost of living and inflation. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, contributor Christopher Liew shares some of the top credits and deductions that you may be able to claim on your income tax return to help you save money.
A Canadian Armed Forces surveillance plane was heading home on Tuesday after two intelligence-collecting flights over Haiti.
A new ranking by global travel site Big 7 Travel has revealed the most Instagrammable places for people to visit in 2023, but only one Canadian location, Banff, is among them.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will ask the provinces today whether or not they intend to accept the new health-care funding deal tabled by the prime minister.
U.S. intelligence officials believe that the recently recovered Chinese spy balloon is part of an extensive surveillance program run by the Chinese military, according to multiple American officials familiar with the intelligence.
A former medical student who claims he fatally shot a fellow student in self-defence during a drug deal in Halifax denied Tuesday he planned to kill the man and steal the marijuana he was carrying.
Retirement is bittersweet for a Nova Scotia doctor who says she feels like she has abandoned the 2,000 patients she has been caring for because she was not able to find a doctor to replace her.
Police believe a man who was found dead behind a Nova Scotia Power substation in Stellarton, N.S., was trying to steal copper wire.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
After seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors, Pascal Siakam is over trade deadline speculation.
A pedestrian has been taken to hospital with serious injuries following a hit and run in Etobicoke overnight.
Police are investigating after a bar in Montreal North appears to have been the scene of an arson early Wednesday morning. There were no reported injuries, but the flames seriously damaged the building and forced residents upstairs to evacuate temporarily.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
A 16-year-old boy has died after being struck by a snow clearing truck in the parking lot of Les Galeries Laval shopping mall on Monday night.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars.
LeBron James is the NBA's new career scoring leader. With a stepback jump shot with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, James pushed his career total to 38,388 points on Tuesday night and broke the record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly four decades.
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkiye and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
Frustration with the province’s new housing legislation boiled over in council chambers
A 19-year-old is facing multiple criminal driving charges following a rollover crash last month that sent six people to hospital.
Several days after the discovery of her body, police in Woodstock have declared the death of 30-year-old Karen Cunningham as 'suspicious' in nature.
Police are searching for two suspects following a carjacking Monday.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkiye and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
Waterloo regional police say one of the suspects in an armed robbery at Conestoga Mall last week has been located dead.
Waterloo region and Wellington County can expect a mix of cold, wet, and windy conditions on Thursday.
A fundraiser is underway in Paris, Ont., to try and support Scott Dammeier, the co-owner of Scott’s Family Restaurant, as he undergoes treatment for Stage Four terminal bladder cancer.
The Calgary Police Service asked residents of a northwest neighbourhood to shelter in their homes as officers responded to a situation Wednesday morning involving a firearm.
A new survey from the Bank of Montreal is shedding light on Canadians’ concerns about the economy and the impact it will have on retirement plans.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith expressed her concerns with the federal government's proposed 'just transition' legislation directly to the prime minister on Tuesday, saying she hopes the two can find some common ground.
Robyn Silvernagle will be making her third appearance at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts next week in Kamloops, BC, just weeks after her team was put together.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is restricting traffic on range road 3062 as they investigate a suspicious death in the area.
Residents at a downtown Saskatoon apartment complex are speaking out about what they say are unreasonable rent increases and a lack of attention to building repairs.
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkiye and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
A Strathcona County toddler has been rescued from suspected sexual exploitation, and the child's mother has been charged, police said.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will ask the provinces today whether or not they intend to accept the new health-care funding deal tabled by the prime minister.
Months after threatening action, Vancouver’s park board has evicted campervans and motorhomes parked illegally at a beach on the city’s west side.
While some premiers are calling the health-care offer presented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday "disappointing," B.C.'s David Eby stopped short of that characterization.
Selina Robinson, the B.C. NDP's minister for post-secondary education, has revealed she is once again battling cancer.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed American linebacker “Champ” Larry Dean to a one-year contract extension.
A 50-year-old woman is dead after two semis collided on Highway #1 near Indian Head.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
