Our country was built by steel workers such as those joining us here today – or I'm joining them, rather. North America was built by workers like that, the world is built by workers like that. And it is entirely right that we're here with so many members of the government caucus joining for an important series of announcements. 

Steel is the foundation of Canada, and we're going to need a lot more of it to launch the nation-building projects that will span the coming decades. Steel will also be essential to our energy infrastructure projects, our ports, our new rail and trade corridors, defence, and our artificial intelligence data centres. But we must first overcome some major immediate challenges.

Yes, to get to where we need to go, we need to overcome some immediate challenges. In recent years, the global steel industry has been undergoing a fundamental shift. Shifts driven by many factors, but I'm going to point out particularly foreign competition that unfairly benefits from non-market policies and practices. And now, the trade actions of the United States are further transforming global steel market dynamics and supply chains.

Let's be clear, Canada will be one of the countries most impacted by these developments. It's because we are highly exposed to this fundamental restructuring that's happening in the global steel industry. We have substantial steel exports, we have very high per capita steel use, and we have a disproportionately open import market. In fact, we have one of the most open steel markets in the world. Imports supply almost two thirds of current Canadian consumption of steel, compared to less than one third for the United States, and less than one sixth for the European Union. And over time, we become too dependent on the United States as our biggest customer, with more than 90% of our steel exports going south of the border. 

So, moving forward, we must diversify our trade relationships. And above all, we must rely more on Canadian steel for Canadian projects, and those shifts start today. In an increasingly unpredictable and unreliable world, we must focus on what we can control.

We can position our industries for success. We can prepare our workforce. With the right plan, we can control our economic destiny. We must act now to ensure that our economy remains resilient and strong, regardless of what the United States or any other country does. 

Canada has what the world needs. We're becoming an energy superpower and we are a leader in the building blocks of a modern economy, from high value-added steel to aluminum, to critical minerals and artificial intelligence. And Canadians have just given governments the mandate to build big things, nation-building projects that will transform our economy. We have the potential to become our own best customer for steel, but we will lose that ability if we don't manage the profound transformation now underway in the industry. 

And to do that, we have to change the way we do things so we can better support our companies and our workers during this time of change. And that's why I'm proud to announce today that Canada's new government will do several things. First, we will take a series of measures to stabilize our domestic steel market and prevent harmful trade diversion arising from current trade tensions. Informed by the review of our steel trade arrangements that we announced last month, the following changes to tariff-rate quotas will take effect by the end of this month. 

For steel products from non-free trade agreement countries, we will tighten the tariff-rate quota level to 50% of 2024 volumes, and apply a 50% tariff on any imports beyond those levels. For steel products from partners with free trade agreements, we will introduce a tariff-rate quota level for steel products at 100% of 2024 volumes, and apply the same 50% tariffs on imports above those levels. 

The Government is reviewing its remission framework to favour the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in Canadian-made products, and we will also implement additional tariffs on steel imports from all non-U.S. countries containing steel melted and poured in China. Our existing arrangements with our CUSMA partners will remain the same, including no changes to our current trade measures with the United States. The combination of all these measures will ensure that Canadian steel producers have a bigger share of the Canadian market. They will create more resilient supply chains and unlock private capital for Canadian production. 

But given the dynamics in global trade, we will reassess all of our existing trade arrangements with respect to steel, consistent with the progress made in our bilateral discussions with the United States. And we'll also take into account the steel negotiations that the U.S. is currently undertaking with other countries, because what happens in those will affect what happens here. Second, we will invest in Canadian steel companies, and above all, in Canadian steel workers. 

Building on previously announced enhancements to Employment Insurance and the EI Work-Sharing Program, the Government of Canada will invest $70 million in labour market development agreements to provide training and income support for up to 10,000 affected steel workers. Through reskilling investments and increased worker supports, we will ensure workers have the skills and the support that they need to meet the future needs of this industry. 

To build a more resilient and diversified steel industry that serves the needs of a growing Canada, the government will provide $1 billion through the Strategic Innovation Fund to help Canadian steel companies advance projects that will increase their competitiveness, that will catalyze their production of steel products that are not currently produced in Canada, and to create jobs to serve growing sectors of our economy, including in defence. 

The Business Development Bank of Canada's Pivot to Grow initiative is also being enhanced to provide support to eligible, small and medium-sized steel enterprises that face liquidity challenges. And $150 million of the government's Regional Tariff Response initiative through its regional development agencies will be prioritized for the steel industries. 

And finally, the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan program that was introduced at the start of this year will be updated in several ways. We’ll expand eligibility and provide lower cost financing to firms in the steel industry. These changes will include reducing the minimum annual revenue requirements of borrowers from 300 million to $150 million, reducing the minimum loan size from 60 million to $30 million, extending the loan maturities from five to seven years, reducing the initial interest rate, all while requiring companies to retain and reinvest in their workers. Through this series of measures, we’ll help ensure that Canadian steel companies have the capital and the workers and the time to build the skills, the tools, the facilities to serve a growing Canada. 

Now, we will also prioritize using Canadian steel to build the big projects that we're undertaking, including millions of new homes, new ports, bridges, energy infrastructure and investments in our security and defence capabilities. As we deliver on our mandate to build big things faster, we will ensure that Canadian steel and other Canadian materials are prioritized in that construction. And to that end, we will change the federal government's procurement process to require companies contracting with the federal government to source Canadian steel for government contracts. 

I see we didn't have to do that for Walters Group, who did it directly when, in their service of Parliament and many other, and the museums across this great nation.

That is what our Building Canada Strong plan will do. We are moving forward with unprecedented investments in energy, infrastructure, defence and technology. The One Canadian Economy Act, which was recently passed, will enable major projects to be completed at an unprecedented pace using Canadian steel, aluminum and critical minerals, and leveraging the expertise of Canadian workers. We will be our own best customer by creating more high-paying careers at home and increasing our production so we are better equipped to reach new markets in Europe and Asia.

To conclude, Canada's steel sector has a history of reinventing itself and reinvesting in itself at critical moments. After the Second World War, Canada built homes, factories, infrastructure at rates never seen before, and to meet that demand, the Canadian steel industry modernized rapidly and increased output substantially. Now, we must pivot again. For Canada to build big things fast, we need our steel industry to advance, not retreat.

We need a strong, skilled workforce and a fair and competitive market in Canada. That's what we do as a big country. Canada's steel industry will always be at the heart of our competitiveness, our security, and our strength. And that's why Building Canada Strong starts with investments in key industries like this one.

At this hinge moment in our history, Canada is shifting from reliance to resilience. We're giving ourselves far more than any foreign government can ever take away. We're building one Canadian economy out of 13. We're embarking on a series of nation-building projects. We are undertaking unprecedented investments in our defence and security, and we are diversifying our trading relationships. We're building with Canadian workers using Canadian steel for a Canada strong.