Oct 21, 2026
If you build cars in Windsor or roll steel in Hamilton, the past 18 months have felt like waiting for the next shoe to drop. Reduced shifts, temporary plant closures and the collapse of a trade agreement with Washington in August have left many workers uncertain about their next paycheque. In Hamilton, Stelco’s U.S. owner has been shifting production south of the border.
On Oct. 21, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford teamed up in Ottawa to launch new support for Ontario’s steel and auto sectors. The announcement comes two weeks before the federal budget.
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Most of the new aid is just meant to keep companies afloat. For households facing layoffs, some of the most useful support is already on the books, and many workers may not realize they qualify.
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What are Carney and Ford offering Ontario’s auto and steel sectors?
The package will be cost-shared between Ottawa and Ontario, an anonymous source told the Toronto Star. The federal share will be a mix of new and previously budgeted funds. The package is expected to include:
- New liquidity supports companies can draw on
- Advisory task forces to guide future policy
- Help for critical minerals, including deposits in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire
According to the source, the relief package acts as a bridge for whole sectors — not just a single business — while Ottawa works to diversify its trade strategy.
Ford has been preparing Ontarians for a long fight. Speaking to a crowd of 1,200 at Toronto’s Empire Club last week, he cautioned that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. has changed for good. He said Ring of Fire minerals alone will add $22 billion to Ontario’s economy and create 70,000 jobs, adding: “And the best part is President Trump can’t do a thing about it.”
Washington views the situation differently. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra stated Tuesday that the two nations are not in a trade war, placing the blame on the Carney government for worsening tensions.
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Why do tariffs matter more for Canadian workers now?
The stakes jumped in August. Carney suspended trade negotiations with the U.S., arguing Washington’s last-minute demands made a deal uneconomic. When talks collapsed, 50% U.S. tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods took effect.
Canada responded on Sept. 8 with matching retaliatory tariffs on steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment, pulp and paper and electronics. Carney acknowledged this strategy will drive up consumer costs and limit product choices.
The job market is feeling it. Ontario lost roughly 20,000 jobs in September, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.
What help can laid-off Canadians get right now?
In late August, the Department of Finance Canada announced a $7.5 billion support package. This comes on top of almost $25 billion in previous tariff relief. For workers, the Employment Insurance (EI) changes include:
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- No one-week waiting period before benefits start
- You aren’t required to use up severance pay or vacation time before receiving EI benefits
- An extra 20 weeks of regular benefits for long-tenured workers
- No penalty for workers who recently quit a job, as long as their latest job loss wasn’t their fault
Standard EI covers 55% of what you normally make on average. With 2026 maximum insurable earnings at $68,900, benefits top out at about $729 a week. In this example, an assembly worker earning $1,600 a week would hit that cap and see weekly income drop by more than half.
Can Work-Sharing keep you on the job?
Today’s liquidity support is really just about helping employers hold on. Another tool lets them cut hours across a team instead of laying people off, with EI topping up the lost pay. Ottawa is combining Work-Sharing and the Worker Retention Grant into a single Workforce Retention and Retraining Program. Employers can get up to $1,000 per participant for training and administration.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the federal department that runs EI, estimates that Work-Sharing has already helped prevent roughly 20,000 layoffs across Canada. By combining it with training grants, Ottawa and Queen's Park are betting that temporary cutbacks don't have to turn into permanent job losses.
For auto workers in Windsor or steelworkers in Hamilton waiting for that next shoe to drop, the Carney-Ford announcement offers a short-term buffer against a volatile U.S. trade relationship. While government liquidity support keeps plant doors open and lines running, existing EI adjustments and expanded work-sharing programs give households an immediate financial cushion to lean on.
As Carney warned when trade talks broke down in August, Canada "cannot control the storm blowing in from Washington" — but claiming available benefits and conserving cash remains the best way for workers to protect their own bottom lines.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
