National Business

TORONTO — Ontario's surprise move to increase the tax paid by foreign homebuyers to 25 per cent won't have much effect on the province's already-cooling market, housing industry observers say.

NEW YORK — Stocks closed higher on Wall Street, marking the third straight gain for the S&P 500. The benchmark hadn’t been able to string together more than two gains in a row since mid-September.

Canopy Growth Corp.'s share price surged more than 27 per cent as it announced it will fast track its plans for the U.S. market with the creation of a new U.S.-domiciled company meant to hold its cannabis investments made south of the border.

OTTAWA — As another interest rate hike looms, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is emphasizing the Bank of Canada's independence after criticism from federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

NEW YORK (AP) — By the Nielsen company's count, 7.8 million people watched Amazon Prime's coverage of last Thursday's NFL game between New Orleans and Arizona. But Amazon says no, there were actually 8.9 million people watching.

TORONTO — The group head of HSBC Holdings Plc says the bank is exploring a sale of its Canadian division in part because it's had strong interest from other banks looking to buy it.

TORONTO — The Insurance Bureau of Canada is calling for the creation of a climate risk score that would indicate a property's susceptibility to damages caused by natural disasters.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union nations on Tuesday gave themselves yet another month to overcome deep differences on groundbreaking measures to shield their citizens from the energy crisis.

TORONTO — When investor exuberance in tech stocks faded as COVID-19 spending habits petered out and recession predictions grew, the head of the Silicon Valley Bank's Canadian arm knew what would keep startups going: venture debt.

CALGARY — Parkland Corp. says it has signed a deal with California-based EV charging technology company FreeWire.