Canada's chief public health officer says there are signs the country has ``passed the peak'' of the third wave.
Dr. Theresa Tam says Canada saw an average of fewer than 7,000 COVID-19 cases per day over the past week, a 20 per cent drop compared to the height of the surge in April.
Tam says there's also been a decline in severe illness, with an average of fewer than 4,000 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospital each day, including fewer than 1,400 intensive care cases.
She says more than 17 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across Canada to date.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Patty Hajdu says some public health restrictions can be loosened by summer, if 75 per cent of Canadians get their first dose of vaccine.
Twenty per cent of Canadians would need to be fully vaccinated.