National Business

TORONTO — After seeing buyers compete with multiple offers on homes across the Greater Toronto Area, real estate agent Navid Rashid is recovering from an unusually busy December that capped an unusually busy year.

TORONTO — SIR Corp. says it has made an offer to take the SIR Royalty Income Fund private in a deal worth about $30 million.

OTTAWA — Shopify Inc. plans to double its engineering team this year and has appointed a new vice-president to help it reach that goal. The Ottawa-based e-commerce company says it will hire 2,021 new employees this year to work in technical roles.

LONDON — A British judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, ordering him to remain in a high-security prison while U.K. courts decide whether he will be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.

CALGARY — The Calgary company building the Keystone XL pipeline is inviting oil shippers to bid for capacity expected to be made available when it opens in about two years despite a vow by the incoming U.S. president to halt the project.

UnitedHealth Group will spend nearly $8 billion in cash to add a health care technology company to its growing Optum business.

CALGARY — WestJet says it plans to resume flying its fleet of 737 MAX aircraft later this month, pending approval by Transport Canada.

NEW YORK — Neil Young has become the latest musician to strike gold with his song catalogue, selling a 50 per cent stake in his music to a British investment company in a deal announced on Wednesday.

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admitted that his economic development plans have failed as he opened the nation’s first full ruling party congress in five years, state media reported Wednesday.

Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday as surging virus counts and China-U.S. tensions weighed on sentiment. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8% after authorities arrested dozens of pro-democracy figures, including lawmakers.