A freight truck carrying lumber crosses the border from Canada to the U.S. as seen from Champlain, N.Y., on March 5. In response to U.S. tariffs, the federal government pledged billions in support for workers and businesses.Brendan McDermid/Reuters
The federal government announced a package of support programs on Friday aimed at Canadian businesses and workers in response to the wave of tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed and threatened.
The package largely consists of loan-based programs and advisory services for businesses, with minimal new federal spending.
For workers, the government announced temporary changes to the Employment Insurance Work-Sharing Program to increase access and maximum duration. The program provides partial EI benefits to employees who agree with their employer to work reduced hours because of a decrease in business activity beyond their employer’s control.
Labour leaders have been urging the government to make the core EI program easier to access and for benefits to be enhanced, but Friday’s announcement did not include such a move.
Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon said further action related to the EI system is possible, but the government is waiting to see how matters evolve. He made the announcement on Parliament Hill alongside Trade Minister Mary Ng and Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez.
“We may be a big country, but we are a united one,” Mr. MacKinnon said. “In this moment of maximum peril, the likes we have never seen from a friend, an ally, no less, the federal government, must stand tall and stand by fellow Canadians.”
On Thursday, two days after implementing 25-per-cent tariffs on most goods, with a lower 10-per-cent tariff on Canadian energy, critical minerals and potash, Mr. Trump announced a partial reprieve for Canada and Mexico until April 2. The reprieve applies to goods from Canada that are compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, meaning it covers a significant portion of Canada’s exports to the U.S.
Mr. Trump has also signed an executive order putting 25-per-cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, including from Canada, as of March 12.
Just minutes before the Friday afternoon news conference, Mr. Trump said his administration will place reciprocal tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products within days. “Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products,” he said.
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Ms. Ng said she was still reviewing Mr. Trump’s latest comments.
“These tariffs, if imposed in that order of magnitude, is completely unjustified,” she said.
Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske said in an interview that the government should have gone further.
“We are disappointed that there’s no announcements in terms of shoring up the employment insurance system,” she said. “Just even the uncertainty is causing layoffs.”
The loans-based package includes the launch of the Trade Impact Program, worth $5-billion over two years, delivered through Export Development Canada to help exporters reach new markets; $500-million in lower-cost loans through the Business Development Bank of Canada; and $1-billion in new financing through Farm Credit Canada to help the agricultural sector address cash-flow challenges. It also includes updates to the Investment Canada Act aimed at refusing foreign investments deemed harmful to Canada’s economic security.
BDC also offers advisory services, such as market diversification, to Canadian businesses at a lower cost than large private consultancy companies.
BDC President and CEO Isabelle Hudon said in an interview that a lot of people aren’t aware of the Crown corporation’s services.
“We’ve always been there to be the shock absorber for the economy,” she said in an interview. “We need to transform this crisis into an opportunity to act quicker and faster on productivity and developing new markets.”
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc responded to the partial reprieve Thursday by saying that Canada won’t proceed with a second wave of retaliatory tariffs on some $125-billion worth of U.S. goods, “while we continue to work for the removal of all tariffs.”
Canadian tariffs on around $30-billion worth of U.S. goods, imposed earlier this week, will remain in place.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been calling on the federal Liberals to recall Parliament, which is currently prorogued until March 24, and approve a package of emergency support measures, including an expansion of the core EI program.
Mr. MacKinnon said he has the authority to announce further support measures as needed regardless of whether Parliament is recalled or there is a federal election campaign.
“We have a series of measures we can roll out, and I have the authority to roll out, and when this ball stops bouncing, we will, of course, be returning with other proposals,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who spoke with reporters before the government’s announcement, said the Liberals are failing to take concrete action that would diversify Canada’s trading relationships or boost economic growth, saying he’s been calling for tax cuts and regulatory changes that would boost energy exports.
“The Liberals have done precisely nothing to make us more self reliant,” he said.
With a report from Nojoud Al Mallees
What questions do you have about tariffs?
The tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump have upended decades of free trade in North America, causing chaos on both sides of the border.
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