Business

Canadians who say they're fed up with confusing wireless contracts for their cell-phones and tablets are being asked to help develop a national retail code for wireless services.

Deal estimated at $12 billion

Statistics Canada says its new housing price index rose 0.2 per cent in August, after a 0.1 per cent increase in July. The combined metropolitan regions of Toronto and Oshawa, as well as Calgary, were the top contributors to the growth.

A report by the Bank of Montreal says Canada's real agricultural output is on track to increase 7.5 per cent this year, laying fertile ground for the sector's performance heading into 2013.

Day 3: plenty of questions, but few definitive answers

Kellogg Canada has recalled one of its most popular brands of cereal due to pieces of metal being found in the packaging.

The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Thursday as resource stocks rose alongside prices for oil and metals. The S&P/TSX composite index was well off session highs by mid-afternoon, gaining 21.53 points to 12,233.

Small businesses are less satisfied with Canada's five largest banks than retail customers, says a J.D. Power and Associates study that ranked Sco-tiabank in top spot in terms of satisfaction among this key banking clientele.

A deal to create a European defence and aerospace giant to rival Boeing Co. collapsed Wednesday when BAE Systems and EADS NV called off merger talks in the face of government objections.

Deteriorating global economic prospects continued to weigh on the Toronto stock market Wednesday amid a weak outlook from resource giant Alcoa Inc. and a pessimistic assessment from the International Monetary Fund.