Stelco Owner Has 15 Days to Reverse Layoffs Before Ottawa Takes Legal Action: Joly

Minister of Industry Melanie Joly responds to questions from journalists before a meeting of the Liberal caucus, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 7, 2026. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she is giving Stelco’s parent company 15 days to reverse its decision to lay off nearly 500 workers before taking legal action.

Joly posted a message on social media on Oct. 22, saying she had sent an 11-page “demand letter” to Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs, directing the company to comply with the six legally binding undertakings she said it committed to under the Investment Canada Act in 2024 when it acquired Stelco Holdings Ltd.

The minister said the commitments the company made were “key” to the Canadian government accepting the $3.4 billion transaction in November 2024.

Ottawa has said the commitments included maintaining at least the same number of unionized employees and the vast majority of non-unionized employees as when the acquisition was announced, for five years.

Joly’s letter to the company disclosed the employment commitments she said Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to in 2024, including maintaining an annual average of at least 1,766 full-time-equivalent unionized workers and 603 full-time-equivalent salaried workers.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced on Sept. 28 that it would indefinitely idle finishing operations at its steel plant in Hamilton and Lake Erie facilities due to “market uncertainty,” which would impact around 500 jobs. The company added that it would offer jobs at its Lake Erie plant to a “significant” number of affected Hamilton employees.

Stelco president Paul Simon said in an Oct. 9 letter to Joly that the employment commitments did not prohibit layoffs or require the company to maintain a specified employment level every day throughout the five-year period.

Simon said in his letter that Canadian exports of cold-rolled and coated steel to the United States had fallen by 58 percent due to 50 percent U.S. tariffs on steel, while foreign imports continued to undercut Canadian-made steel. He said Stelco could not continue to produce these products in Canada without “incurring significant losses that are not sustainable.”

He also described Canada’s existing trade protections as “woefully inadequate” to support a sustainable market for both the Canadian and U.S. steel industries.

Joly had previously said Stelco chose not to seek support from federal programs intended to protect jobs vulnerable to U.S. tariffs.

Joly said in her letter that Section 40 of the Investment Canada Act allows Ottawa to pursue court processes that can “result in financial penalties, an order requiring the company to comply with its commitments, or forced divestiture of its Canadian assets.”

The industry minister said “no act of god or change in market conditions” could relieve the company of the commitments it made to Canada, saying those commitments were “not optional.”

She added that she was prepared to meet with the company to find solutions, but was focused on protecting Canadian jobs.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.