Making his first public speech since taking over as Governor from Mark Carney in early June, Mr. Poloz appealed Wednesday for Canadians to hang tight as an export-led recovery and rising business confidence gradually take root.

Verizon Communications Inc. is looking at a move into Canada's cellular telephone business, one of several possible new entrants whose arrival would salvage the federal government's ambitions for a fourth wireless player across the country.

Canada's largest grocer is trying out a new discount small-store format in a bid to attract more customers in urban areas. Loblaw said it opened the new 10,000-square foot store a few weeks ago in Calgary.

Canada's growth outlook appears to be stronger than previously thought, thanks to an improving trade picture and the strength of corporate balance sheets, economists at the Royal Bank of Canada said Wednesday.

In the end, there were no bids for Imperial Oil's 95-year-old Dartmouth refinery. There were some interested buyers who had been looking at the refinery right up until the end, says Gilles Courtemanche, Imperial's vice-president of refining and supply.