One Canadian economy, minus 1,000 Algoma steelworkers

One thousand steel workers will be laid off at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, after the corporation and both federal and provincial governments refused to protect them. 

On December 1, Algoma announced that it will lay off over one-third of its workers. This is the company’s second round of layoffs this year. Following the U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel in the early months of 2025, AS had joined corporations Metal Processing Group and ArcelorMittal on the layoff bandwagon.

Soon after telling workers they would be laid off, CEO Michael Garcia said in a statement “[The workers’] stability and well-being remain foremost in our minds.” Absent from the statement were any promises to help workers find this stability. Algoma’s CEO focused more on blaming U.S. tariffs, while in the same breath bragged about the new technology with which he is replacing steel workers.  

Over the last four years, Algoma received nearly $1 billion in government loans, most of which came from the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC). The CEEFC claims that its loans “protect Canadian jobs”, yet they come with no requirements to create jobs and protect workers. 

When confronted about the layoffs and loans, both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said they were well aware of plans by Algoma to cut its workers. Mainstream media and politicians appear to be surprised by this. However, the portion of Carney’s July 16 plan for the steel industry that mentions workers focused on Employment Insurance and retraining rather than protecting jobs in the industry.

In Brampton, Ontario last week, Canada’s Treasury Board President, Shafqat Ali, told steel workers of hundreds of millions of dollars in government loans for the lumber and steel industries. Just like Carney, Ali made no promises to prevent layoffs, nor any promises to hold corporations accountable if and when they leave workers behind. 

The majority of Algoma’s workers are represented by the United Steel Workers (USW) locals 2251 and 2724. For months, the union has been calling for the industry and governments to commit to worker protections. None of their requests beyond EI increases and work-sharing programs have been implemented, including demands that workers be involved in the loan application process.

“When Algoma went to government seeking this massive funding, workers, their union, and the community were shut out of the process. They were denied a meaningful role in which they could have insisted on transparency, accountability, and a staggered workforce reduction program,” said USW national director Marty Warren.

Since Algoma’s announcement, the union has been trying to help those laid off by providing job search and other assistance. On December 15, the USW in conjunction with the Ontario government’s Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC) will launch the Steelworker Power Action Centre.

Though funded by the government, the centre’s services are run and distributed through the union. Following a meeting with Algoma and the USW, federal industry minister Mélanie Joly stated that about half of the laid-off workers could be given their jobs back if the company were given more government loans. The minister made no commitments to this effect.