Jan 7 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday, boosted by cannabis stocks and hopes for an extended U.S. stimulus package to aid economic recovery after Democrats took control of the Senate. * The healthcare sector rose 4%, providing the biggest boost to the index. * The energy sector climbed 1.5% as U.S. crude prices were unchanged a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.1%. * Hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken Congress on Thursday formally certified Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. * Canada’s exports rose in November, while imports edged down, with the country’s trade deficit with the world narrowing slightly more than expected, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday. * At 9:41 a.m. ET (14:41 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 129.91 points, or 0.73%, at 17,958.02. * The financials sector gained 0.4%. The industrials sector rose 1.1%. * The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.3% as gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,916 an ounce. * On the TSX, 149 issues were higher, while 66 issues declined for a 2.26-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 19.95 million shares traded. * The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Ballard Power Systems Inc, which jumped 11.9%, trading at highest since May 2002 and Aphria Inc, which rose 8.5% * New Gold Inc fell 2.7%, the most on the TSX. The second biggest decliner was Pretium Resourcs, down 2.0%. * The most heavily traded shares by volume were Nevada Copper Corp, Zenabis Global Inc and St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd. * The TSX posted 17 new 52-week highs and no new lows. * Across all Canadian issues there were 102 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows, with total volume of 46.19 million shares. (Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)