Ottawa announces $8.7B package: Carney and Ford team up to rescue steel and auto

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On Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 21, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford held a joint news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to announce an $8.7-billion federal-provincial partnership to support the steel, auto and critical-mineral sectors battered by the Canada-U.S. trade war.

The money has three destinations: a $5-billion joint steel action fund to help Ontario steelmakers cope with 50 per cent U.S. tariffs, modernizing mills in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, boosting domestic production and expanding into non-U.S. markets; $2.5 billion over two years for the auto industry ($1.5 billion federal, $1 billion from Ontario) to build the "connected and electric vehicles of the future," safeguarding more than 120,000 direct auto jobs; and fast-tracking development of Ontario's Ring of Fire critical-minerals projects.

Carney said the package aims to protect up to 290,000 jobs across Ontario, acknowledging that the U.S. administration's approach has changed and Canada's must change with it. "An integrated North American auto sector will be stronger, more competitive and provide better jobs for our workers," Carney said. "But we recognize these are not the objectives of the current U.S. administration." Ford said the agreement "will protect workers in key provincial industries from tariffs and will pave the way for new good-paying jobs."

Context: Stelco announced last month it would concentrate steel production at its Lake Erie Works plant in Haldimand and halt production in Hamilton under U.S. tariff pressure, with many employees facing job losses. The U.S. administration also finalized a rollback of fuel-economy standards on Monday, a double blow the industry minister says is compounding the damage. The federal government's second budget is due Nov. 5.