National Business

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Canadians continue to spend more on groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping Loblaw Companies Ltd. beat quarterly expectations and boost its dividend.

TORONTO — Telus Corp. launched a new agriculture division Thursday, saying it wants to use communications, data collection and artificial intelligence to bring more efficiency to the world's food industry.

EDMONTON — More than 430 Alberta doctors and three major health unions are urging Premier Jason Kenney to invoke short, sharp public health restrictions to reverse a soaring rate of COVID-19.

MONTREAL — Yellow Pages Ltd. missed expectations as its net profit plunged in the third quarter on an 18 per cent drop in revenues.

In a Nov. 11, 2020, story about the future of business travel, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of one of the subjects of the story. His name is Brandon Contreras, not Brian Contreras.

MONTREAL — Power Corp. says its net profit attributable to shareholders surged more than 40 per cent in the third quarter to $505 million from $359 million a year earlier.

TORONTO — An Ontario judge has ordered Hudson's Bay Co. to pay half the rent owing at one of its department stores, while blocking a landlord's attempt to evict the iconic retailer.

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in October, the lowest reading in five months, suggesting that a price spike over the summer is beginning to fade as coronavirus cases spread. The flat reading for last month followed a gain of 0.

WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to 709,000, a still-high level but the lowest figure since March and a further sign that the job market might be slowly healing.

MONTREAL — Champion Iron Ltd. says it will move ahead with an expansion of its Bloom Lake open pit mining complex in northeastern Quebec that is expected to double capacity and create 375 new permanent jobs.