Joly warns Stelco owner to protect jobs or face forced sale of Canadian assets

TORONTO — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday the U.S.-based owner of Stelco must uphold job commitments it made when it purchased the Ontario-based steelmaker or risk being forced to sell its Canadian assets.

In a speech at the Canadian Club in Toronto, she also raised the possibility of the federal government taking equity positions in strategic industries.

But Joly stopped short of explicitly saying Ottawa was prepared to take an ownership stake in Stelco.

The minister singled out Stelco owner Cleveland-Cliffs, accusing the American company of supporting U.S. tariffs that are damaging its own Canadian operations.

“Cleveland-Cliffs must uphold its commitments, full stop,” she said. “We will apply the full force of the law and every tool in the toolbox to ensure that this strategic capacity remains operational.”

Joly added: “They must keep the jobs in Canada or face the prospect of having to sell their Canadian assets.”

Cleveland-Cliffs made legally binding commitments under the Investment Canada Act when it acquired Stelco in 2024, including to maintain at least the same number of unionized workers and the vast majority of non-unionized employees for five years.

Stelco announced plans last month to lay off up to 500 workers across its Hamilton and Lake Erie facilities, citing the ongoing trade crisis, weak demand and continued import pressure.

The steelmaker’s Hamilton operations make cold-rolled steel and corrosion-resistant coated products, such as galvanized steel, used in automobiles, appliances and building materials. The company said it would indefinitely idle those operations.

“Stelco’s Hamilton plant produces steel essential to our advanced manufacturing industrial base,” Joly said.

She said the federal government is prepared to provide financing or even take ownership stakes in companies to keep important industries and jobs in Canada.

“We must ensure that strategic production capabilities remain right here at home,” Joly said in her speech. “We will provide the financing … and even take equity positions.”

When asked how soon Ottawa expected to resolve the dispute over Stelco’s planned layoffs or pursue legal action, Joly said it was “a question of days.”

She later told reporters that Ottawa has hired lawyers as it reviews the possibility of taking action against Cleveland-Cliffs.

“It is the government’s position that Stelco has breached its commitments,” Joly said. “Since we believe there’s been multiple breaches of the commitments, the Investment Canada Act under Section 40 offers options through a court process.”

Under the act, Ottawa can ask a superior court to enforce commitments made by foreign investors, impose financial penalties or order the sale of their Canadian businesses.

“We’re looking at all of these options,” Joly said. “And I’m always ready to sit down again with Stelco to find a solution, but it’s not true that they will cut the jobs in Hamilton and continue to ship their steel from the U.S. to Canada meanwhile. No way.”

Stelco was founded in 1910 as the Steel Company of Canada and remained an independent Canadian steelmaker until 2007 when it was acquired by Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp.

The steelmaker entered creditor protection in 2014 amid financial difficulties and was later acquired by Bedrock Industries before its eventual sale to Ohio-based steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs in 2024.

“Cleveland-Cliffs came to Canada … to be part of the solution,” Joly said. “Now they have spoken in favour of U.S. tariffs, ones that are directly harming Stelco’s own business right here at home and putting hundreds of Canadian jobs at stake.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.

— By Brett Bundale in Ottawa, with files from Tara Deschamps in Toronto

The Canadian Press