Province rolls out $100M in tariff aid

WINNIPEG — Manitoba is responding to the latest U.S. tariffs with more than $100 million in support for workers, businesses and producers to help them withstand the headwinds, but the opposition said it’s “too little, too late.”

“We will support workers, we will support businesses, we will ensure that we have market and trade diversification and build a stronger, more resilient economy,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said Friday at the legislature alongside Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn.

The United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on $27.6 billion of Canadian exports as of Aug. 22 after trade talks fell apart. Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. products starting Sept. 8.

The latest escalation in U.S. tariffs is expected to affect a wide range of Manitoba industries, the ministers noted, including manufacturing, agri-food, transportation, construction, wholesale trade, aerospace, forestry, steel, machinery, beverages and related supply chains.

Moses said the government is working closely with the federal government to support workers, business owners and producers through a period of uncertainty “to ensure that our economy can weather the storm.”

Targeted measures will help businesses manage cash flow pressures, retain workers, explore new export opportunities and diversify markets, he said.

One such measure will allow tariff-affected businesses to defer provincially administered retail sales tax and payroll tax payments from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. The province had extended tax payment deadlines in response to tariffs imposed on Canadian exports to the U.S. The last deferral was for the February through October 2025 return periods.

Moses was asked why the province wouldn’t suspend tax payments for tariff-threatened businesses rather than just defer them. “We think the comprehensive package that we’re putting forward today with over $100 million worth of support is the right fit for this moment,” the minister said.

Other measures announced Friday include $50 million for a loan program to provide repayable working capital financing at low interest rates, a $500,000 increase in the export support program and $250,000 to enhance export advisory services.

The province is providing $500,000 to support interprovincial trade missions for Manitoba alcohol producers and craft breweries and $500,000 to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to expand the Made-in-Manitoba initiative.

Another $13.7 million will be set aside to establish a tariff workforce stabilization and youth employment program to provide wage subsidy supports to employers.

With no end in sight to the trade war and escalating tariffs, Manitoba businesses need a lifeline, critics said Friday.

“Direct aid to businesses is what’s needed right now,” Progressive Conservative leader Obby Khan told reporters.

“Businesses are on the verge of closing,” said the former entrepreneur, who dismissed the tax deferrals and other measures announced Friday as “half-baked.”

He and PC finance critic Lauren Stone slammed the NDP government for not responding to the U.S. trade war sooner.

“This is not a new tariff war,” Stone said. “We’ve been dealing with this for 18 months,” she said, pointing to the duties the U.S. imposed on aluminum and steel in March 2025.

“That was a huge tariff on Manitoba manufacturers and there was nothing” from the province, she said.

“If we had a serious premier here in Manitoba, they would have done the work ahead of time,” said Stone, who said the supports announced Friday lacked detail and are “too little, too late.”

Measures such as the new loan program and retail sales and payroll tax deferrals will provide some businesses with “important breathing room,” Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Brianna Solberg said Friday.

“But a loan still has to be paid back, and a tax deferral is still a tax bill that eventually comes due,” Solberg said.

“With no clear end in sight to this trade uncertainty, small businesses also need genuine, permanent cost relief,” Solberg said.

Manitoba Business Council CEO Bram Strain said businesses need certainty and the measures announced Friday “very much provide that.”

Supports that allow employers to keep their workforce and to continually train, and loans to help businesses find new markets will help Manitoba weather the economic storm, he said.

“Until this turmoil settles down a little bit, we’re going to need those opportunities,” Strain said.

The head of the Keystone Agricultural Producers said access to capital and operating dollars is crucial.

“It’s important to realize right now that the added financial strain that these tariffs are going to place is on farmers’ cash flows at the most critical time of year,” Jill Verwey said Friday at the legislature.

The association is working with Kostyshyn’s department to make sure help for producers rolls out in a timely way and bridges gaps in federal and provincial programs, she said.

Hard-hit Manitoba honey producers, who have been slammed with 50 per cent tariffs on their U.S. exports, are getting help to develop and implement targeted supports, Kostyshyn said.

The province is working with them to manage excess supply and diversify their market.

The Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. is increasing the operating credit guarantee program to $3 million and increasing the guaranteed portion of loans to 33.33 per cent from 25 per cent in both the operating credit guarantee program and diversification loan guarantee program.

The eligibility for the diversification loan guarantee program will expand to include grain and oilseed operations, along with investment in primary agricultural infrastructure in Manitoba. The maximum loan guarantee amount will increase to $5 million from $1.5 million.

» Winnipeg Free Press