National Business

WestJet Airlines Ltd. plans to lay off 1,700 pilots — three-quarters of the cockpit roster — as the company struggles with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

BERLIN — Energy company Royal Dutch Shell told investors Thursday that it aims to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2050, a move that was welcomed by some climate campaigners even as others called it “corporate greenwash.

CALGARY — Pieridae Energy Ltd.

MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. is helping to produce 18,000 ventilators for the Ontario government at its temporarily shuttered plant in Thunder Bay, Ont.

TORONTO — Small businesses are hoping for promised rent relief from both landlords and government as the COVID-19-related shutdown drags on and their bills pile up.

LOS ANGELES — In these dark times, clouded by fears of an enemy we can’t see and sheltered in homes we're itching to leave, it's reassuring to know that California's sunsets over the Pacific are just as vivid.

TORONTO — Barrick Gold says it's on track to achieve its production guidance for this year despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canopy Growth Corp. is making significant cuts just a month after the cannabis company slashed its workforce and took multi-million-dollar writedowns. Smiths Falls, Ont.

WASHINGTON — La oleada de despidos que ha envuelto la economía de Estados Unidos desde el brote del nuevo coronavirus obligó a 5,2 millones de personas más a ir en busca de ayuda federal por desempleo la semana pasada, informó el gobierno el jueves.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home-building activity collapsed in March as the coronavirus spread, with housing starts tumbling 22.3% from a month ago.