Montreal's Nova Steel temporarily lays off 36 workers, blaming cheap steel pipe imports

Montreal steel pipe maker Nova Steel has announced it will temporarily lay off 36 workers at its Saint-Patrick plant from Friday, November 13, blaming a sharp drop in orders for standard steel pipe caused by low-priced imports. The company warned the temporary layoffs could become permanent, with more jobs at risk, if the federal government does not take new measures against unfairly traded imports within two or three months.

36 jobs cut, over a quarter of the plant

Nova Steel announced the decision on November 5. The Saint-Patrick facility is in southwest Montreal, near the Lachine Canal. According to local reporting, the 36 workers represent more than a quarter of the plant's workforce. The company will also cut production shifts to match weaker demand.

Cheap imports blamed for order slump

President and CEO Scott Jones said the backlog for standard steel pipe had "plummeted" as the market was flooded with unfairly priced imports. He stressed that the company uses Canadian-produced hot rolled coils to make its pipe and will not "engage in a race to the bottom" by buying imported coils. Nova Steel is Canada's only producer of standard steel pipe, used for plumbing and heating, fire protection, mining, water well casing and fencing.

Call for stronger federal trade enforcement

Jones called on Ottawa to immediately strengthen trade enforcement and Buy Canada policies, proposing a "North American fortress" approach to protect steel production in the region. Canada already applies anti-dumping measures on certain carbon steel welded pipe from China, Türkiye, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines. At the same time, U.S. tariffs have restricted Canadian steel's access to its largest export market; the Bank of Canada said in April that Canadian steel exports had fallen by about half since the U.S. trade restrictions took effect.

(Sources: Nova Steel press release, Canadian Manufacturing, Canadian Metalworking, HR News Canada.)