The union representing steelworkers at Stelco Holdings Inc. has confirmed to CTV News that 350 employees at its plant in Hamilton, Ont. will be laid off.
United Steelworkers Local 1005 verified the planned layoffs on Monday afternoon but did not provide any further details.
Stelco declined an interview but in a statement to BNN a spokesperson said its Hamilton Works facility is currently idling its finishing operations while continuing to concentrate steel production in Lake Erie.
“Very importantly, job opportunities at Lake Erie Works will be offered to Hamilton employees. We expect that a significant number of employees affected by the indefinite idle at Hamilton should be absorbed at Lake Erie Works,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Stelco also said the amount of steel they produce will not be impacted by the Hamilton plant’s idling, though there will be a “change in product mix, with a higher concentration of hot rolled steel products.”
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Cleveland-Cliffs, an American-based steel manufacturer, acquired Stelco Holdings in a $3.4-billion deal in 2024.
Province will ‘use every tool to help affected workers’
In a written statement provided to CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade Vic Fedeli said the Ford government will “use every tool we have to help affected workers.”
“We are ramping up services at our POWER Centre in Hamilton, where we recently increased funding by nearly 50 per cent, to connect workers with training and help them find new jobs as quickly as possible,” they said.
“As part of our $30-billion tariff relief and support plan, we have also expanded the Protect Ontario Financing Program and the Ontario Together Trade Fund to help more businesses hit by tariffs. Through our Buy Ontario approach, we are putting Ontario steel first when the government buys materials.”
The spokesperson went on to say that they understand the federal government is reviewing its legal options to protect Stelco workers.
“As it does, we need Ottawa to speed up its purchase of Ontario-made steel. That steel should build the pipelines, critical infrastructure, ships and defence equipment our economy needs to remain strong and self-reliant for generations to come,” they wrote.
Premier recently called out Stelco’s owners
Ontario Premier Doug Ford slammed the owners of Stelco in August last year, accusing the chairman of “signing away” Canadian steel to the United States and supporting U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on numerous occasions.
“I got a problem with that guy,” Ford said at a news conference.
Lourenco Goncalves, the chairman and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, had said in July that, without further trade protections “the future competitiveness of our galvanizing lines in Hamilton is at risk.”
“We continue to defend our point of view with the Canadian government officials, asking them to do what is right to protect the steel industry in Canada, just as our American government has done here in the United States,” he said.
The U.S. slapped a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel imports on Aug. 22.
