National Business

TORONTO — Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been negotiating with lenders over the past few months, hoping to hold off paying debt amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, those payments are beginning to filter through the credit reporting system.

NEW YORK — AMC Theatres, the nation's largest movie theatre chain, will reopen in the U.S. on Aug. 20 with retro ticket prices of 15 cents per movie.

Five projects serving 51 communities in northern Canada have been awarded $72 million from the CRTC's Broadband Fund, a program that CRTC chairman Ian Scott says has become even more necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Ford has issued two recalls affecting 63,367 vehicles in Canada, citing safety issues with the brakes and coil spring.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The U.S. budget deficit climbed to $2.81 trillion in the first 10 months of the budget year, exceeding any on record, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

BRANDON, Man. — The Manitoba government has launched a campaign promoting a restart to the economy in a city that has seen a large increase in COVID-19 cases connected to a cluster in a meat-processing plant.

TORONTO — Negotiations with the Detroit Three automakers were launched Wednesday with Unifor national president Jerry Dias warning the union won't make any concessions, even if there is a "second wave" of coronavirus infection.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (16,575.28, down 78.27 points) StageZero Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX:SZLS). Health care. Up 2.5 cents, or 38.

CALGARY — Natural gas producer Birchcliff Energy Ltd. is reporting a $39.5-million second-quarter loss compared with a loss of $9.5 million in the year-earlier period.

TORONTO — The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index surged to its highest level since early March on the strength of the energy sector, while the S&P 500 fell just shy of an all-time high. The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 78.