Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a joint action plan in Ottawa on Wednesday with 8.7 billion Canadian dollars in investments and new measures for the province’s steel, automotive and critical minerals industries, which the two governments described as support for workers and businesses affected by US tariffs. The Prime Minister’s Office called the plan cooperative federalism in action. “From mine to mill to assembly line, Canada and Ontario are protecting jobs today and making bold investments that will build a stronger, more resilient, more independent Canadian economy for tomorrow,” Carney said in the release.
The centrepiece for steel is a new Joint Steel Action Fund with five year funding commitments of 3.55 billion dollars from the federal government and 1.67 billion dollars from Ontario, building on existing mechanisms including the federal Strategic Response Fund, to help steelmakers diversify production, supply defence, advanced manufacturing, energy and infrastructure projects, and open overseas markets. The governments will prioritise Canadian steel in public procurement under the Buy Canadian and Buy Ontario policies, strengthen monitoring and enforcement against unfairly traded imports through the Canada Border Services Agency, and set up a Canada-Ontario Steel Task Force whose first priority is cutting steel shipping costs. The federal government said the steel industry supports more than 23,000 direct jobs.
For autos, the two governments are adding 2.5 billion dollars over two years for large scale capital projects, up to 1.5 billion dollars federal and up to 1 billion dollars from Ontario, on top of the February 2026 federal auto strategy’s 3 billion dollars from the Strategic Response Fund. The plan also holds federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for new light duty vehicles at 2026 levels, a fleet average of 172 grams per mile, through the 2029 model year, with annual increases resuming for 2030 toward a target of 75 percent electric vehicle sales by 2035, giving automakers near term flexibility and bankable credits while trade pressure persists. A Canada-Ontario Automotive Task Force will oversee the measures in a sector the release said supports more than 120,000 direct jobs and more than 16 billion dollars a year of GDP.
In Northern Ontario, Ottawa committed up to 1 billion dollars over three years for road infrastructure for critical mineral development in the Ring of Fire, matching Ontario’s initial investment of up to 1 billion dollars over the same period, with a coordinated federal and provincial permitting process and a joint working group on First Nations consultation and economic opportunities. The governments said the federal government has provided more than 25 billion dollars in support to workers and businesses affected by US tariffs to date, including a further 7.5 billion dollars of measures announced in August 2026.