National Business

SAN RAMON, Calif. — Business software pioneer Salesforce.com is buying work-chatting service Slack for $27.7 billion in a deal aimed at giving the two companies a better shot at competing against longtime industry powerhouse Microsoft.

MONTREAL — Ottawa's plan to provide aid for the struggling tourism sector was greeted with relief Tuesday, while Canada's airlines awaited word on support for their industry.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (17,296.93, up 106.68 points.) BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB). Technology. Up $1.43, or 18.69 per cent, to $9.08 on 40.4 million shares.

TORONTO — DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. says sales of cars and trucks fell in November as COVID-19 restrictions returned. The consultancy says 128,351 cars and trucks were sold last month, down 10.4 per cent from a year ago.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed concerned Tuesday about the impact of siding with food giants Nestle and Cargill and ending a lawsuit that claims they knowingly bought cocoa beans from farms in Africa that used child slave labour .

GENEVA — The U.N. humanitarian office says needs for assistance have ballooned to unprecedented levels this year because of COVID-19, projecting that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021.

TORONTO — North American stock markets got a boost to start December from additional signs that vaccines could spur a return to economic normalcy in 2021.

TORONTO — Eighty per cent of Canadian manufacturers surveyed in a new report are facing an immediate labour and skills shortage that was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TORONTO — The Liberal government says it will take steps over the next year to tax foreign homeowners who live outside of Canada as part of a plan to lower housing prices.

WATERLOO, Ont. — Shares in BlackBerry Ltd. gained as much as 63.9 per cent in intraday trading on Tuesday following news of a deal with Amazon Web Services to develop and market BlackBerry's intelligent vehicle data platform, called IVY.