Le célèbre train de Noël revient au Québec dès le mois prochain et voici tous les arrêts
Prochain arrêt : la magie de Noël! 🎄🚂
Ho ho ho, sors ton calendrier : le train le plus magique de l’année s’en vient près de chez toi. Le Canadien Pacifique Kansas City (CPKC) a enfin dévoilé l'itinéraire de son célèbre train de Noël pour 2026, et le Québec fait encore une fois partie des premières régions visitées. Le convoi tout illuminé fera dix arrêts dans la province les 19, 23 et 24 novembre, dans l'ouest de l'île de Montréal, en Estrie et en Montérégie, avec un mini-concert gratuit à chaque escale.
À lire également : Les personnes qui décorent pour Noël en novembre seraient plus heureuses selon des experts
C'est dans un communiqué publié le 13 octobre 2026 que le CPKC a présenté les détails de cette 28e tournée, à peine une semaine après avoir confirmé le retour de la tradition. Cette année, le train des Fêtes visitera 182 communautés au Canada et aux États-Unis en 32 jours.
C'est d'ailleurs chez nous que tout commencera. Selon l'horaire détaillé publié par CPKC, le premier des deux convois donnera le coup d'envoi de la tournée le jeudi 19 novembre à la gare exo de Montréal-Ouest, avant de s'arrêter à Beaconsfield en soirée. Ce train mettra ensuite le cap sur l'Ontario, puis sur le Midwest et le sud des États-Unis.
Après les deux arrêts montréalais, il faudra attendre l'arrivée du deuxième convoi, qui entrera dans la province par Lac-Mégantic le lundi 23 novembre, puis fera escale à Sherbrooke et à Farnham. Le lendemain, il sillonnera la Montérégie, de Kahnawà:ke jusqu'à Lacolle, avant de filer vers l'État de New York.
Côté musique, ce sont Magic! et MARIS qui ouvriront le bal dans l’Ouest-de-l’Île, le 19 novembre. Le groupe torontois, connu pour son succès Rude, sera de retour à bord du train cette année. Pour les arrêts en Estrie et en Montérégie, ce sont American Authors et Rafaëlle Roy qui monteront sur la scène du wagon. Ça s'annonce complètement festif!
Tous les arrêts du train de Noël au Québec en 2026
Jeudi 19 novembre
Montréal-Ouest
Quand : de 19 h à 19 h 30
Où : gare exo de Montréal-Ouest
Beaconsfield
Quand : de 20 h 30 à 21 h
Où : gare exo de Beaconsfield
Lundi 23 novembre
Lac-Mégantic
Quand : de 12 h à 12 h 30
Où : rue Cartier, entre la rue Lemieux et la rue Maisonneuve
Sherbrooke
Quand : de 16 h 45 à 17 h 15
Où : 795, rue de la Rand (stationnement de la gare du CPKC)
Farnham
Quand : de 20 h 30 à 21 h
Où : 191, rue Victoria
Mardi 24 novembre
Kahnawà:ke
Quand : de 17 h à 17 h 30
Où : Old Malone Road
Saint-Constant
Quand : de 18 h à 18 h 30
Où : passage à niveau de la rue Sainte-Catherine, du côté est de la gare exo Sainte-Catherine
Delson
Quand : de 18 h 55 à 19 h 20
Où : 1, chemin de la Gare
Saint-Mathieu
Quand : de 19 h 50 à 20 h 15
Où : école Jacques-Barclay, 368, rue Principale
Lacolle
Quand : de 21 h à 21 h 30
Où : 10, rue Sainte-Marie
Comment ça fonctionne ?
Les spectacles sont gratuits et durent une trentaine de minutes, le temps que les portes du wagon-scène s'ouvrent et que les artistes donnent leur performance. CPKC t'invite à apporter un don en argent ou des denrées non périssables, et tout ce qui est recueilli reste dans la communauté visitée pour aider la banque alimentaire locale. Depuis 1999, la tournée a permis d'amasser plus de 28,3 millions $ et plus de 5,6 millions de livres de nourriture au Canada et aux États-Unis.
Si tu comptes immortaliser le moment, l'entreprise demande de rester à au moins 15 mètres des voies ferrées et de ne jamais te tenir sur les rails ou sur les pierres du ballast pour prendre une photo ou une vidéo.
Des milliers de lumières, de la musique en direct et une bonne dose d’esprit des Fêtes : difficile de trouver une meilleure façon de plonger dans la magie de Noël, surtout quand ça ne gruge pas ton budget cadeaux!
Online poll for name of orphaned polar bear cub at Winnipeg zoo to close at midnight
Today is the final day to vote on a name for an orphaned polar bear cub at Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo.
Zoo spokeswoman Lindsay Hughes says voters have until midnight to select in an online poll whether the 10-month-old cub should be called Duke, Marly, Fletcher or Mantayo.
Hughes says all the names are related to a place in Churchill, Man., where the cub arrived to the zoo from in August after his mother's death.
Duke and Marly, for example, are derived from a local school in Churchill.
Hughes says the cub has been steadily adjusting to his new home and can often be seen going for a swim or rolling around.
His caretakers describe him as spunky and mischievous, and he's among seven polar bears at the zoo.
"Our hope is that when people come to us and visit the polar bear that they come to love these animals and are inspired to protect them and to protect the Arctic," Hughes said Tuesday.
"We want people to protect the environment."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Hep, hep, hooray!
On the last Tuesday in July, a table outside the VANDU office on East Hastings Street was stocked with Gatorade, snacks and information sheets, while a bingo game kept people entertained. Behind it, volunteers greeted passers-by with smiling faces. Over the next four hours, more than 100 people stopped by.
It was World Hepatitis Day and the table was the work of several groups that don’t always end up in the same room: DTES CREW, a group of community researchers with lived experience in the neighbourhood; the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), which hosted the event; researchers from UBC’s OPTIMISE project; and the BC Centre for Disease Control. Just inside VANDU, the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre (VIDC) offered point-of-care testing for hepatitis C — a finger poke and a result in minutes, rather than a doctor’s referral and a potentially long wait.
Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. It spreads through blood, most commonly through shared injection, smoking or snorting equipment, as well as reused tattoo or piercing equipment. In Canada, people who received blood transfusions before 1992 may also have been exposed.
What catches people off guard is how quiet the virus can be. Most people living with hepatitis C feel fine. There may be no pain, no jaundice — the yellowing of the skin or eyes — and no obvious sign that anything is wrong, sometimes for decades. During that time, the virus can slowly scar the liver and cause inflammation elsewhere in the body.
Without a blood test, hepatitis C can go undiagnosed for years, sometimes until liver damage has become serious. Finding out typically involves two tests: the first looks for antibodies, which show whether you have ever been infected with hepatitis C. If that test is positive, a second test looks for the virus itself to determine whether the infection is still active.
Crunching the numbers
Hepatitis C is more common than many people realize, but B.C. has made significant progress in treating it. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, more than 26,000 people living in B.C. had tested positive for an active hepatitis C infection by the end of 2024. Of those, more than 80 per cent had started treatment, and more than 90 per cent of those treated had been cured.
That’s a big change from a decade ago. In 2015, just over 40 per cent of people with a confirmed infection had been treated. That’s half the number who are being treated today.
But those numbers only include people who have been diagnosed. People who have never been tested don’t show up in the data at all — which is a big part of why we set up a table outside VANDU on World Hepatitis Day.
Hepatitis C is curable, and treatment today looks very different than it did a decade ago. Some people clear the virus on their own, but most need treatment. That usually means taking a pill for up to 12 weeks, with few side effects. More than 95 per cent of people who complete treatment are cured.
For most people in B.C., treatment is covered by public or private insurance, with support programs available to help with remaining costs. Being cured prevents further liver damage and reduces the risk of serious complications, including liver cancer and liver failure. Many people also report feeling better after treatment, with more energy, better sleep and less pain.
There is still no vaccine for hepatitis C, and being cured doesn’t prevent someone from getting it again. That’s why regular testing remains important for people who may be exposed. The only way to know is to get tested.
World Hepatitis Day: At the table
People stopped to talk. Many were happy to share what they already knew, and what they had been through. Some told the peers they had already been treated and cured. Others went inside for point-of-care testing with the VIDC team.
Out of the 25 people who were tested, one-quarter tested positive. They were offered follow-up support that same day and connected with the clinic. For people without a family doctor, the team helped them find one — so that a positive result on a Tuesday afternoon in July could actually lead to treatment, rather than becoming a piece of paper tucked into a pocket and lost or forgotten about.
Of course, a test on its own doesn’t cure anyone. What matters is whether someone walks away with a name, a phone number and a reason to trust that the next appointment won’t be another wall.
Why peers make the difference
None of this works without people who already know the neighbourhood. CREW members are the reason the event happened at VANDU, rather than in a room people might not feel comfortable walking into. They knew where to put up posters, and it worked. More than one person that afternoon said a poster was what brought them by.
“Seeing a familiar face in a familiar place helped create an atmosphere of trust among neighbours who share community space and resources,” said Nicolas Crier of the DTES CREW. “This was helpful in getting people comfortable with testing on the spot.”
For CREW member Julie Chapman, sharing her own experience with hepatitis C is part of building that trust.
“Sharing my personal experience of when I learned I was Hepatitis C positive helps people feel more comfortable and open up more,” Chapman said. “I had it for 20 years and had no idea. A random screening at my doctor’s office found it, and I got treatment right away. Eight weeks later I was cleared of the virus. I try to encourage people to get tested.”
Grateful for program
All the peers are grateful to both VANDU for opening its space for this event, and to Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, which contributed its team, tests and time to make sure that everyone who received a positive result left with a next step.
If you want to know more about hepatitis C, or you are thinking about getting tested, BC Hepatitis clinics can help you find a place near you. Visit the BCCDC here.
This story was written in collaboration with Nicolas Crier, Samona Marsh, and Jim McLeod of DTES CREW; and Dahn Jeong and Sara Qureshi of the OPTIMISE project team at UBC and BC Centre for Disease Control.
Julie Chapman and Nicolas Crier are writers with The Shift peer newsroom at Megaphone.
Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter works as a mentor for Megaphone's The Shift in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The Shift is made up of a diverse group of individuals with lived experience of poverty, who are reporting from the DTES instead of being reported on.
Copyright 2026, Megaphone Magazine. All rights reserved.
Julie Chapman with Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Megaphone Magazine.