National Business

VICTORIA — British Columbia is expected to battle budget deficits for the next year and likely longer as the COVID-19 pandemic rattles economies provincially and globally, Finance Minister Carole James said Monday. The pandemic turned B.C.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (16,514.44, down 191.35 points). Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. down 83 cents, or 3.81 per cent, to $20.93 on 9.9 million shares.

NEW YORK — Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones.

TORONTO — North American stock markets rose for a fifth straight month in August despite a drop Monday in the TSX, while the Canadian dollar reached its highest level since early January.

CALGARY — A hostile takeover offer by Obsidian Energy Ltd. launched by making public a letter to the CEO of Bonterra Energy Corp. demonstrates growing frustration at the slow pace of consolidation in the sector, energy industry analysts say.

TORONTO — Starbucks Canada says it will start requiring customers to wear facial coverings while in its cafes in mid-September. The company says the rule will come into effect at all of its company-owned cafes in Canada on Sept. 14.

TORONTO — Uber Technologies Inc.

TOKYO — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said Monday it has taken stakes of just over 5% in five major Japanese trading houses in what it says is a long-term investment.

OTTAWA — Canada's federal banking regulator is phasing out requirements around mortgage deferrals for homeowners hard-hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CALGARY — Whitecap Resources Inc. says it has struck an all-stock deal to buy private oil and gas producer NAL Resources Ltd. for the equivalent of about $155 million. The Calgary-based company says it will issue 58.