National Business

TORONTO — Strength in the financials sector helped Canada's main stock index finish higher on Wednesday as the big banks continue to report results, while U.S. stock markets also rose.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia’s sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated during the company’s latest quarter, a letdown likely to stoke worries that the AI craze has been fool’s gold.

OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the federal government and municipalities across Ontario should mandate their workers to return to the office full time. Speaking to reporters in Inglewood, Ont.

Stocks edged higher ahead of a closely watched earnings report from Nvidia. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Wednesday, beating the all-time high it set two weeks ago. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%.

OTTAWA — The federal government's new major projects office will launch this week, a key element in Ottawa's push to spur construction of new large-scale infrastructure, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said.

HALIFAX — A gold mine in eastern Nova Scotia received its final permit approval from the provincial government on Wednesday, seven years after the project was first submitted for environmental scrutiny.

Officials in Northwest Territories say they are preparing for "extremely challenging" wildfire activity this week as they tell residents of a First Nation community to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Canadian consumers are proving to be a headscratcher for Dollarama Inc.

MONTRÉAL — Quebec's former minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Technology has told a public inquiry he knew the provincial auto insurance board's digital transition project was over budget in 2021.

Gas stations have run dry in some regions of Russia after Ukrainian drones struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks, with motorists waiting in long lines and officials resorting to rationing or cutting off sales altogether.