National Business

CALGARY — One of Canada's biggest drilling companies will cut its dividend and further reduce spending as a deep downturn in North American oil and gas exploration continues to weigh on the oilfield services sector.

OTTAWA — Consumer insolvencies are expected to spike in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic despite a reprieve in the number of filings in March.

VANCOUER, B.C. — SSR Mining Inc. and Alacer Gold Corp. have signed a deal to merge operations. Under the all-stock deal, Alacer shareholders will receive 0.3246 SSR Mining shares for each Alacer share held. The exchange ratio implies a value of $8.

CALGARY — WestJet says it is extending many flight cancellations into early July as it continues to deal with record-low passenger numbers due to COVID-19.

VANCOUVER — Family-owned Army & Navy says it has become a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic and will permanently close its department stores after 101 years in business in Western Canada.

TORONTO — Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week: What we're buying Statistics Canada will release a report on Canadian grocery sales up to April 11 on Monday.

CALGARY — Work-from-home measures taken to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are challenging long-held assumptions about how Canada's oil and gas sector should provide and care for its office workers.

VANCOUVER — The retail, food and restaurant sectors are calling for more help in the wake of new job numbers that show B.C. lost about 264,000 jobs in April.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (14,966.56, up 132.87 points.) Freegold Ventures Ltd. (TSX:FVL). Materials. Up 11 cents, or 47.

TORONTO — North American stock markets marched higher to end the week despite historically bad jobs numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 132.87 points at 14,966.56 to end the week 2.