National Business

HALIFAX — The mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality said Wednesday that the Nova Scotia community will appeal to the federal government for support for its airport after Air Canada announced it was halting service to the island.

CALGARY — The end of Alberta's oil production curtailment program and purchase of natural gas producer Painted Pony Energy Ltd. earlier this year will help Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.

MONTREAL — Dollarama Inc. said it will pay a bonus to employees for their work during the pandemic as it raised its dividend and reported a higher third-quarter profit.

LONDON — Britain's medical regulator warned Wednesday that people with a history of serious allergic reactions shouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, and investigators looked into whether two reactions on the first day of the U.

TORONTO — Canopy Growth Corp. will cease operations at five facilities across the country and lay off more than 200 workers — the latest in a series of dramatic cuts the cannabis company and several others have made this year. Smiths Falls, Ont.

Calgary-based Whitecap Resources Inc. is cementing its position as a consolidator of conventional oil and gas producers in Western Canada with a friendly $550-million all-stock deal to buy rival TORC Oil & Gas Ltd.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Commercial flights with Boeing 737 Max jetliners resumed Wednesday for the first time since they were grounded worldwide following two deadly accidents nearly two years ago.

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised slightly more job openings in October, but hiring slipped as a resurgence of COVID-19 threatens the economic recovery. And the number of Americans fired or laid off rose for the first time since June.

MONTREAL — Hydro-Quebec has launched a new energy storage business aimed at power producers, transmission providers and distributors, as well as commercial and industrial markets. The utility says EVLO Energy Storage Inc.

TORONTO — Clothing retailer Roots reported its third-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago as the company cut costs. Roots says it earned $10.3 million or 24 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct.