Downtowns association makes pitch on Parliament Hill

Kate Fenske has an agenda on Parliament Hill: draw attention and support to Canadian downtowns struggling with crime, drug use and homelessness.

Starbucks halts 2-year sales slide, but costly improvements hurt its profits

Starbucks halted a long sales slide in its fiscal fourth quarter as pumpkin drinks and improved service brought customers back to its stores.

The Seattle coffee giant said Wednesday that its global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% over last year in the July-September period. It was the first time in nearly two years that the company posted an increase in same-store sales.

That increase was largely due to international markets, where same-store sales rose 3%. In the U.S., same-store sales were flat; spending per transaction was up 1% but transactions were down 1%. Still, that was an improvement from the third quarter, when U.S. same-store sales fell 2%.

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said the results indicate the company's turnaround, which he put in place after joining Starbucks a little more than a year ago, is working. Niccol has set new hospitality standards, redesigned stores to be cozier and more welcoming and adjusted staffing levels to better handle peak hours.

Zellers is set for another relaunch. Here’s what the new owners have in store

Zellers is making a comeback — again.

The discount retailer that's died and been revived several times since its 1928 beginnings will get another relaunch Thursday at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton.

The latest iteration will stick with the original's emphasis on affordable family offerings but will pare back the kinds of merchandise sold and rethink the hulking properties Zellers once occupied.

The new retailer will take over much smaller spaces and be stocked with men's, women's and kids' apparel, as well as home goods, luggage and seasonal items, but ditch other Zellers categories like toys and pharmaceuticals.

Craftsmanship, excellence core values for more than 4 decades at family-run Pine Creek Homes

Feel the cold. Watch the breath hang in the air after each exhale. Throw another log on the fire and wait for the cabin to get to room temperature.

Many people picture summer when they think about going to the lake, but Glen Veenstra has winter in mind when he remembers the time he spent as a child at his grandparents’ cabin on White Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park.

When Veenstra was a boy, he and younger brother Josh would visit the cabin with their grandfather in the middle of winter. It was winterized, but there was no heat source when no one was there, so after the three arrived at 8 or 9 in the morning, they spent the day getting the space to a reasonable temperature.

“You literally had to wear your snow pants and winter boots in the cottage until at least one o’clock in the afternoon just to be able to get the fire going enough to take the edge off,” says Veenstra, 44.

Ambassador says Canada’s team still talks to U.S. officials during trade talk pause

WASHINGTON - Canada's ambassador to the United States said her team in Washington has continued to communicate with American officials since President Donald Trump said he was terminating trade talks.

"I have had exchanges here with a number of my contacts in the administration. My team has also been having contacts," said Kirsten Hillman, who appeared by video in front of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa Wednesday.   

Hillman, who also serves as Canada's top negotiator with the U.S., said over the past five days her people have been in touch with officials in the White House, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The conversations are not expressly on the trade negotiations, she added, because people have been advised by their leader that's "on pause right now."

Canadian Pacific profits leap despite U.S. tariff turmoil and looming merger prospect

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. reported a big profit boost in its latest quarter despite U.S. tariff disruption and fears over fallout from a potential merger of rivals down the line.

The railway saw net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rise 10 per cent year-over-year to $917 million. Revenues increased three per cent to $3.66 billion on the back of higher shipping volumes.

Grain, potash and container volumes rose markedly year-over-year while forest products — struggling under a sectoral tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump — and energy, chemicals and plastics sagged.

“Despite what has been consistent macro and trade policy headwinds, the team continues to generate a diverse, profitable growth across a number of areas,” chief executive Keith Creel told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.

Nvidia has started the $5 trillion club. A look at its rise, by the numbers

Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion.

The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company's chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.

Nvidia carved out an early lead in tailoring its chipsets known as graphics processing units, or GPUs, from use in powering video games to helping to train powerful AI systems, like the technology behind ChatGPT and image generators. Demand skyrocketed as more people began using AI chatbots. Tech companies scrambled for more chips to build and run them.

Nvidia’s journey to be one of the world's most prominent companies has produced some eye-popping numbers. Here’s a look.

GM lays off 1,700 workers at plants in Michigan and Ohio amid slower EV demand

NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors is laying off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles.

The Detroit News first reported the cuts on Wednesday — covering about 1,200 jobs at an all-electric plant in the Detroit area and 550 workers at Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Ohio, in addition to hundreds of other employees slated for temporary layoffs. GM later confirmed the news to The Associated Press.

“In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,” the company said in a statement, while maintaining it “remains committed to our U.S. manufacturing footprint.”

GM added that Ultium Cells is also “adjusting production in response to recent changes in customer plant demand.” The company said that battery cell production in Warren, Ohio and a facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee would be paused beginning January 2026.