National Business

OTTAWA — The federal minimum wage is rising to $17.30 per hour on April 1. The increase from $16.65 reflects the increase in the annual average consumer price index for 2023.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are extending their push to record highs in early trading on Wall Street, led by big gains in chipmakers. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% in the early going Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 177 points, or 0.5%.

MONTREAL — WSP Global Inc. says it has acquired Communica Public Affairs Inc., a firm specialized in Indigenous and stakeholder engagement. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25% on Thursday even though inflation continues to drop from multi-decade peaks.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government will take final steps to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors next week as they refuse to end their weekslong walkouts that have burdened the country’s medical services, officials said Thu

OTTAWA — Health Minister Mark Holland promised a major crackdown on nicotine pouches Wednesday, and issued a stern warning to tobacco companies he says are marketing the pouches to children.

American prosecutors say a Canadian living in China stole trade secrets from a leading U.S.-based electric vehicle company to set up a competing battery business. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, N.Y.

JOHNSON CITY, Texas — Angela Chao, a shipping industry CEO and sister-in-law to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove into a pond and died last month in Texas, according to a law enforcement report released Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Reddit will enter a new era as a publicly traded company with a market value of $6.4 billion after the social media platform's initial public offering was priced at $34 per share.

LAVAL, Que. — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says net earnings attributable to shareholders totalled US$623.4 million in its third quarter, down 15.5 per cent from US$737.4 million a year earlier. The Laval, Que.-based company, which reports in U.S.