Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday it would abandon the construction of a major oil-sands project in Western Canada and take a $2 billion write-down, a stark reflection of the challenging economics for unconventional oil projects amid a sharp slump in crude prices, The Wall Street Journal reported. The energy giant said it would discontinue its 80,000 barrel-a-day Carmen Creek oil-sands project, citing an uncertain business environment and highlighting concerns about sufficient pipeline capacity to ship oil-sands crude to markets.

Canada’s government-owned postal agency said Monday it has put a temporary halt to plans to phase out door-to-door mail delivery in urban areas, about a week before a new Liberal government that promised to restore regular mail service comes to power, The Wall Street Journal reported. Canada Post Corp. said it is prepared to work with the government to determine how best to address challenges the postal system faces. “We remain focused on maintaining reliable postal service to all Canadians without disruption,” the agency said in a statement.

Hamilton steelworkers will get a chance to tear away the veil of secrecy surrounding a controversial deal between U.S. Steel and the Harper government on Nov. 19, The Hamilton Spectator reported. In a 12-minute hearing Monday morning the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed to a motion by active and retired salaried workers and others to hear their appeal of a lower court decision not to order the curtain listed. Monday's motion was a request for an expedited hearing of the workers' motion. The request was not opposed and a lawyer for U.S. Steel Canada did not attend the hearing.

Asia-focused miner Besra would file for bankruptcy under Canadian law after considering all available alternatives to “decisively” deal with its cost and debt structure and to narrow its strategic focus in an effective and timely manner, Mining Weekly reported. The company on Monday stated that the proceedings would also facilitate a restructuring of its unsecured notes using a straightforward process otherwise unavailable to management.

Mexican homebuilder Homex , which emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in July, said on Thursday that the national securities regulator CNBV has cleared its shares to trade again, Reuters reported. Homex shares were suspended last year, when a debt crisis and lack of demand for its homes prompted the company to file for bankruptcy. Read more.

The bid to open the secret agreement between the federal government and United States Steel Corp. that ended a prosecution against the steel maker has been given new life. The Ontario Court of Appeal has granted stakeholders in the U.S Steel Canada Inc. creditor-protection hearing the right to appeal a ruling by the Ontario Superior Court that sealed the agreement. The 2011 agreement ended the federal government’s prosecution of U.S. Steel under the Investment Canada Act, which came after the Pittsburgh-based steel maker broke promises it made to Ottawa when it purchased then-Stelco Inc.

Despite a severe economic downturn in a region whose growth once seemed limitless, many energy companies have too much invested in the oil sands to slow down or turn off the taps, the International New York Times reported. In addition to the continued operation of existing plants, construction persists on projects that began before the price fell, largely because billions of dollars have already been spent on them. Oil sands projects are based on 40-year investment time frames, so their owners are being forced to wait out slumps.

The 100-year-old steel maker once known as Stelco Inc. may become independent again after United States Steel Corp. gave up on trying to restructure the company it purchased in 2007, The Globe and Mail reported. U.S. Steel Canada Inc., possessing the youngest integrated steel mill in North America and an idle steel-making mill in Hamilton, would proceed on its own or be sold after U.S. Steel and its stakeholders failed to reach a deal on the future of the Canadian unit within its troubled Pittsburgh-based parent company. U.S.

The number of consumer insolvencies in Alberta jumped almost 30 per cent in July from year-ago levels, reports the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, The Calgary Herald reported. Statistics released Wednesday reveal 824 insolvency filings, a 28.3 per cent increase from July 2014. The number of bankruptcies rose 19.3 per cent to 353. Bankruptcy proposals, where an offer to creditors is made to settle debts, soared 36.1 per cent, to 471.

Canada’s Liberal Party, which has positioned itself with a legitimate shot to win the country’s Oct. 19 election, unveiled Saturday its fiscal and economic platform in an effort to counter claims from rivals that its campaign promises pose a danger to the federal budget, The Wall Street Journal reported. Among the three main political parties, the Liberals have made the biggest gains in public-opinion polls since the start of the election campaign in early August—and the economy has been a prominent focus.