A strong, confident workforce
Canadian workers have felt the impact of U.S. tariffs most acutely. Canada’s new government is investing in our workers so they can drive Canada’s economic transformation with new skills and training, and seize the exciting, high-paying careers it will create. To build a strong, confident workforce, the government will:
Introduce a new reskilling package to train 50,000 workers, leveraging new methods such as employer-based training and worker outreach: Each year, the Government of Canada invests in working Canadians through Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) with provinces and territories for workers to upgrade their skills with Employment Insurance funded training and employment assistance. Under LMDAs, training and employment supports help workers gain skills and work experience with a combination of skills training, wage subsidies and career counselling. The Government is investing an additional $450M over three years via the LMDAs to retrain and upskill up to 50,000 more workers. In collaboration with employers, workers will get access to targeted training and financial assistance while in training to retain their job or fill in-demand jobs and to continue contributing to the Canadian economy. These measures will benefit workers from coast to coast, including mid-career, long-tenured workers affected by U.S. tariffs and global market shifts, as well as underrepresented groups, such as persons with disabilities, women and Indigenous Peoples.
Implement a new digital tool to facilitate job search and applications and launch a national online training platform to adults find training courses and offer digital and AI training: The Government is investing $50 million over five years to modernize its online job tools. This funding will make it easier for users to find jobs by integrating AI on the Job Bank platform including by automatically enrolling EI claimants and aligning their jobs matches align with their skills profile. This investment will also launch a national online training platform to help adults find short-duration training courses by skill type, location, and format. We are working in partnerships with companies like Indeed, Jobillico, Career Beacon and Zip Recruiter, as well as online learning and digital training leaders like eCampus Ontario and the Skills Council of Canada. Job seekers will be able to apply to jobs via the Job Bank mobile application.
By the end of November, additional improvements will be rolled out to the online platform including:
- Customized referrals for workers and employers to local employment support organizations that can provide in-person services.
- A new feedback mechanism that will give a worker feedback on their skills gaps from employers within 30 days of submitting a job application, which will support workers’ training decisions and increase their chances of success in the future.
- All jobs in Job Bank will include a salary, and if the employer uses AI in the job selection process, this information will be available on the job posting.
- A new Worker Dashboard will show registered job seekers at the local level to help employers find workers with the right skills.
Workforce Alliances and Sectoral Workforce Innovation Fund: The Government is investing $382 million over five years to launch new Workforce Alliances. These Alliances will bring together employers, unions and industry groups to work on ways to help businesses and workers succeed in the changing labour market. A new Workforce Innovation Fund will invest in projects tailored to local job markets to help businesses recruit and retain the workforce they need. The goal is to create three to five Workforce Alliances with key partners such as unions and industry groups to tackle urgent labour market challenges and coordinate public and private investments in skills development. These alliances would focus on sectors under pressure like auto parts, steel and aluminum and those with growth potential such as energy, critical minerals and advanced manufacturing. The Workforce Alliances and the Strategic Response Fund (SRF) will work closely together to ensure a comprehensive and strategic response for tariff impacted firms, and to ensure that SRF recipients are not held back by workforce challenges.
Workforce Innovation Fund: This new, flexible $50 million fund will support projects that help businesses in key sectors and regions recruit and retain the workforce they need. Projects would vary depending on the sector and region in which they occur. Each project would vary in level of investment depending on factors like cost drivers, to deploy projects in rural and remote areas.
Extra Weeks of EI benefits for Long-Tenured Workers: Long-tenured workers may need more time to find a job that is similar to the one they have lost. Starting October 12, 2025, and retrospectively to claims started on June 15, 2025, the Government will invest $1.6B over five years to temporarily give long-tenured workers 20 extra weeks of income support, up to a maximum of 65 weeks. It is expected to support about 190,000 long-tenured workers. Workers who lose their jobs because of tariffs will be offered training and career counselling through the LMDAs.
Extension of certain EI measures to April 11, 2026: The Government will extend two temporary EI measures to April 11, 2026, to ensure income stability for workers, particularly those who are most vulnerable during a prolonged economic downturn:
- The rules on separation payments will be suspended so that workers can keep severance payments while also receiving EI benefits (investment of $424M over two years).
- The one-week waiting period will be waived so that workers will receive benefits for the first week of unemployment, supporting an additional 700,000 claimants (investment of $418M over two years).
A New Strategic Response Fund
As businesses adapt to the new economic landscape, they need time to invest in their future. Canada’s new government is ensuring companies in key sectors do not just survive the immediate trade pressures but pivot to grow in the face of them. To spur those investments, the government is investing $5 billion through a new Strategic Response Fund:
The Strategic Response Fund will prioritize projects using the following criteria:
- Highly trade-exposed sector or company, facing significant revenue loss, decrease in profitability, and/or job losses.
- Large-scale projects with both front-end development costs (e.g., front-end engineering design) and capital costs to pivot toward alternative markets, products or enhance competitiveness.
- Projects that are critical to maintaining industrial or skills capacity and capabilities for Canada’s economic and crisis management.
- Projects that help companies develop their capacity to meet demands in the Canadian market and accelerate trade exports.
- Projects that receive matching funding commitments or greater from the provinces and territories.
The Strategic Response Fund will seek to maintain industrial capacity by offsetting new market access costs, supporting retooling, and facilitating plans by Canada-based firms to expand or secure new markets. The Strategic Response Fund would have flexibility to fund pre-development and demonstration activities including pre-front-end engineering design and front-end engineering design studies.
The Strategic Response Fund is part of a broad set of tariff support measures, including the Workforce Alliances, Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Pivot to Grow initiative, and the Regional Tariff Relief Initiative. Together, these measures are reinforcing Canada’s industrial strength and defending jobs across the country. Given the current economic challenge and trade disruption this program replaces the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), but will continue to support innovation projects as did the SIF. Existing and potential SIF projects will not be stopped or deprioritized.
The Workforce Alliances and the Strategic Response Fund will complement each other to ensure a comprehensive and strategic response for tariff impacted firms, and to ensure that fund recipients receive support to address workforce challenges.
A New Buy Canadian Policy
Canada is on a mission to build Canada strong through major infrastructure projects, a modern defence industry, and millions more homes. In that mission, the public sector can serve as an anchor customer for Canadian businesses. To move from an approach of “best effort” to a clear obligation to support Canadian industries, the government is introducing a new Buy Canadian Policy that will:
Ensure the federal government buys from Canadian suppliers: By November 2025, the Government will introduce new measures to make sure that Canadian suppliers, and their products are prioritized in all federal spending. The Government will launch a new Policy on Prioritizing Canadian Materials in Federal Procurement that will require domestic and foreign suppliers contracting with the federal government to source key materials from Canadian companies in defence and construction procurements exceeding a certain threshold. This policy will initially cover Canadian steel and softwood lumber and will be sufficiently flexible to allow the Government to adjust the parameters and include additional domestic materials over the following months.
Require local content and purchases from trusted partners when Canadian suppliers are truly unavailable, requiring approvals so such cases remain the exception not the norm: There will be times when the Government cannot purchase goods and services entirely made in Canada, often because the capacity does not exist or certain inputs cannot be sourced domestically. To address this, the Government will implement new local content requirements so that strategic procurements which cannot be completed by Canadian suppliers still require the use of Canadian content. This will ensure that Canadians benefit from federal spending, even when foreign suppliers are involved. The Government will also fully implement the Policy on Reciprocal Procurement, to ensure non-defence procurements are limited to Canadian goods and services as well as those originating from Canada’s trading partners. This will include supplier eligibility being based on the origin of goods and services being offered. This policy will be fully implemented by spring 2026.
Expand this approach to infrastructure spending, grants, contributions, loans and other federal funding streams: Each year federal organizations spend billions of dollars supporting major infrastructure projects and other purchases by other levels of government. However, until now there have never been rules that require third parties using federal funding to procure goods and services from Canadian suppliers, or to insist that foreign companies develop and build their products and services in Canada.
The Government will formalize and extend Buy Canada obligations for infrastructure spending, grants, contributions, loans and other federal funding streams By scoping in procurements over and above what federal public service organizations do, the reach of the Buy Canada effort will extend to an additional $70B of spending in these areas.
Streamline regulation and introduce new supports to ensure businesses can access federal procurement:The Government will cut red tape and streamline its processes to make sure that businesses can access federal procurement opportunities easily. A Small and Medium Business Procurement Program will be set up to create specific streams of procurement for SMEs and also to help them navigate the federal procurement system more easily.
Apply this mandate to federal agencies and crown corporations to the government leverages all the dollars at our disposal: Federal procurement requirements to date have applied to federal public service organizations but have not applied to federal agencies and crown corporations, which are responsible for billions of dollars of federal spending. The Government will extend Buy Canada obligations to all federal organizations.
Provide a roadmap that can be adopted by provinces, territories, and municipalities.
Immediate liquidity relief
As we transform our economy to build a more resilient and diversified future, businesses need the opportunity to turn to that future and be ready to thrive in it. For many businesses that have relied most heavily on trade with the U.S., that requires temporary, immediate relief from liquidity pressures. To support the liquidity of all sectors impacted by tariffs, the government will immediately provide:
- More low-cost capital for small and medium-sized businesses through the Business Development Bank of Canada, increasing its maximum loan size from $2 million to $5 million.
- Flexibilities to the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, including lower interest rates and longer maturities.
- Necessary flexibility for the automotive sector by exempting the Electric Vehicle Availability Standards in 2026, and the government will begin a broader review to provide additional flexibilities and reduce costs.
Assisting Canada’s canola and agriculture producers
In the immediate term, introduce new biofuel production incentives, providing more than $370 million over 2 years to assist domestic producers and restructure their value chains: Canadian biofuel producers are at risk due to new changes in U.S. subsidies and policy. As a result of these changes, many Canadian facilities are idling or shutting down. The loss of this sector would deepen Canada’s reliance on imports from the United States and dampen demand for domestic agricultural feedstocks like canola.
To level the playing field and support Canada’s biofuels sector, the Government intends to make targeted amendments to the Clean Fuel Regulations, to introduce a time-limited production incentive for renewable diesel and biodiesel producers and work with provinces and territories to explore complementary measures.
The Clean Fuel Regulations require producers and importers of gasoline and diesel used in Canada to reduce the carbon intensity of these fuels by, for example, supplying low-carbon fuels. The government intends to amend the Clean Fuel Regulations to strengthen the resiliency and support the development of Canada’s low-carbon fuel sector, while maintaining the Regulations’ primary focus on lowering carbon emissions. Only targeted amendments that advance this objective will be considered at this time. The Biofuels Production Incentive is a time-limited program that will provide over $370 million over two years to support the stability and resiliency of domestic producers of biodiesel and renewable diesel. This incentive will be provided on a per litre basis to Canadian producers of biodiesel and renewable diesel and will be available from January 2026 to December 2027 for up to 300 million litres per facility. Natural Resources Canada will provide more details about the program in the coming weeks. The Government will also work closely with provinces and territories to explore a more comprehensive approach that ensures not only a stable, but a thriving, domestic low-carbon fuels industry now and in the future.
Increase loan limits for Canola producers to $500,000 and invest in AgriMarketing and trade diversification measures: Canada’s agriculture sector depends heavily on trade, with exports accounting for over half of total production value. But recent geopolitical instability, shifting trade policies, and evolving consumer demands have disrupted key sectors like grain, fish and seafood. These challenges highlight the risks of overreliance on a few major exports and the urgent need to diversify to support long-term growth. To address this, the Government is strengthening AAFC’s AgriMarketing Program. AgriMarketing supports targeted activities to promote Canadian agri-food products as safe, sustainable, and high quality, building Canada’s reputation abroad. It funds trade missions, international exhibitions, market research, branding campaigns, exporter training and advocacy to reduce trade barriers and seize new opportunities at home and abroad. The Government is investing an additional $75 million over five years, starting in 2026-27 to expand the program into high-growth areas such as Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. This expansion will support sectors most affected by trade barriers, like canola, and aligns with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, shifting focus beyond traditional trade partners like the U.S. and China. For canola producers, this means enhanced resources to promote the unique quality, versatility and sustainably of Canadian canola products, helping them stand out in competitive new markets and build resilient export pathways.
Advance Payments Program (APP): The Advance Payments Program (APP), delivered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) provides Canadian farmers, including canola producers, with low-interest cash advances of up to 50% of the expected market value of eligible products. It helps farmers manage cash flow, avoid high-interest debt and market strategically. Producers can access up to $1 million in advances, with a portion interest-free, typically $100,000, which was increased to $250,000 in March 2025. To respond to ongoing trade uncertainty, especially affecting canola producers, who represent 41% of APP users, the Government is temporarily doubling the interest-free portion for canola advances. For the remainder of the 2025 program year and the 2026 program year, the interest-free limit will rise to $500,000. These enhancements follow the 2019 response and reflect continued federal support for producers navigating global volatility. This expanded support will give canola producers greater financial flexibility to manage risk, invest in their operations and remain competitive in uncertain markets.
Regional Tariff Response Initiative
Canada’s economy is built on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who need to invest now in a changing world. If we are to succeed in transforming our economy, SMEs need to grow and thrive.
In March 2025, the government announced the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, a $450 million fund to support SMEs directly or indirectly impacted by U.S. tariffs, so they could step up investments to diversify their products and markets as well as adopt innovative technologies to boost competitiveness. In July 2025, the government announced that up to $150 million of the $450 million Regional Tariff Response Initiative would be targeted to projects in the steel sector.
Today, the Government is more than doubling the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, from $450 million to $1 billion over three years, including to provide non-repayable contributions of up to $1 million to businesses in all impacted sectors in order to allow more SMEs to invest in their growth, diversify markets, create new revenue sources by adopting innovative technologies and bringing new products and services to market.
To be eligible for the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, Canadian SMEs, must be directly or indirectly impacted by the ongoing trade disruptions, including tariffs. Not-for-profit organizations that support businesses to manage the impact of trade disruptions are also eligible for funding. Only projects seeking a financial contribution up to $20 million will be eligible. Projects seeking over $20 million may be eligible for the new Strategic Response Fund.
Examples of the type of projects that will be prioritized under the Regional Tariff Response Initiative include:
- An aluminum processing SME seeking to buy and install new fabrication equipment and technologies to digitize its processes, increase its productivity and maintain competitiveness.
- A canola value-added processor impacted by new foreign tariffs seeking to increase its customer base in Canada and other countries through the hiring of a sales representative for targeted markets and participation in trade shows.
- A specialized not-for-profit organization providing expert advisory services to SMEs in their trade diversification plans and efforts.
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative is part of a broad set of tariff support measures, including the Workforce Alliances, Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility, the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Pivot to Grow initiative, and the Strategic Response Fund. Together, these measures are reinforcing Canada’s industrial strength and defending jobs across the country.
The Workforce Alliances and the Regional Development Agencies will work closely together to ensure that Regional Tariff Response Initiative recipients receive support to address workforce challenges.
Review the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard (EVAS)
The Government is announcing an intent to make targeted regulatory adjustments to help the automotive sector stay competitive during a period of transition. The automotive sector is essential to Canada’s economy, supporting jobs, trade, innovation and the green transition. To support the sector as it navigates the immediate challenges from U.S. trade actions while preparing for a zero-emissions future, the Government of Canada will remove the 2026 target from the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard (EVAS) and is launching a 60-day review of the overall regulation.
The EVAS currently requires that at least 20% of new light-duty vehicle sales in Canada be zero emissions by 2026, rising to 60% by 2030 and reaching 100% by 2035. The EVAS will be amended to remove the target for the 2026 model year vehicles to help reduce the economic pressure due to tariffs.
At the same time, the Government is launching an immediate review of the EVAS to ensure it continues to reflect market realities, remains effective for Canadians, and does not place undue burden on automakers. The review will consider potential amendments to the annual sales targets, including the 2035 goal, and will explore possible additional flexibilities.
Increasingly, countries around the world are transitioning to Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV), including electric vehicles. Up to 1 in 4 vehicles sold in the world today is an electric vehicle. Shifting toward ZEVs (including electric vehicles) will offer long-term savings for drivers, reduced carbon emissions and improved health outcomes and reduced health care costs by ensuring cleaner air for communities. The global shift to electrification is also creating significant opportunities for the Canadian economy, including new manufacturing jobs and expansions in Canada’s critical minerals mining and processing, which will benefit rural communities.
While the transition to zero emission vehicles is crucial for addressing climate change, it is unfolding amid significant short-term economic uncertainty. Since these regulations were introduced, U.S. tariffs have had a major impact on the auto industry. Additionally, Canada must carefully consider how recent U.S. policy uncertainty could affect the affordability and availability of ZEVs in the integrated North American market. That’s why we are taking a measured approach – supporting our industries today, while keeping a clear focus on a sustainable future.
In addition to regulatory adjustments, the Government will also explore options to bring more affordable electric vehicles to Canadians.
These changes are part of the Government of Canada’s broader strategy to support key sectors impacted by global trade dynamics, while ensuring a clean and competitive economy for the future.