Ottawa spending $229M to help tariff-hit Ontario workers obtain new skills

OTTAWA – The federal government will spend $228.8 million over the next three years to help Ontario workers in industries hit hard by U.S. tariffs, acquire new skills and adapt to the trade war disruption.

The new Canada-Ontario Workforce Tariff Response will support workers and job seekers in the province’s softwood lumber, steel and automotive industries — areas still facing steep sectoral tariffs from the United States.

“This is really about trying to ensure that the skills training lines up with what the market needs,” federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.

Ottawa estimates the funding will allow 27,000 people to access training or other supports through existing provincial programs and Skills Advance Ontario, a new program aimed at tariff-affected workers.

The federal government announced similar plans last week to spend $70.4 million over three years to support workers in British Columbia facing tariff impacts. Hajdu said the federal government is in the process of signing such agreements with every province and territory.

Ontario already has a standing agreement with the federal government to receive roughly $925 million annually for skills training and other employment supports.

Hajdu said the new funding recognizes the tariff disruption has changed the types of work that are in demand in Ontario.

She said Ontario’s unemployment rate of 7.3 per cent — higher than national level at 6.5 per cent — is a “red flag” for the province’s economy. Both the Ontario and national jobless rates fell in January as Statistics Canada said fewer people were searching for work.

“When a tariff deeply impacts a sector and that company or sector has to pivot quickly to new product or new processes or even new markets which may require different specifications, sometimes workers don’t have those specific skill sets,” Hajdu said.

Hajdu said the federal government is working with Sault-Ste. Marie, Ont.-based Algoma Steel and the union to support workers. Algoma announced in December it would lay off 1,000 people.

Laura Devoni, Algoma Steel vice-president of human resources and corporate affairs, attended Tuesday’s announcement.

She said the 1,000 affected workers have not been laid off yet as Algoma works through a transition that will see it pivot from traditional blast furnaces to a greener form of steelmaking.

Algoma received $500 million in combined support from the federal and Ontario governments in September to help with that transition and to pivot to a business model less reliant on the United States.

Devoni suggested Algoma could hire back some workers affected by the looming layoffs.

“We are looking forward to diversification with the support of Ontario and the federal government. We do have plans to have people re-skilled and rehired in the future,” she said.

On Monday, Hajdu also announced $94.5 million in spending over five years to improve data sharing on job opportunities in key sectors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.