00:00Good afternoon, everyone.
00:02Bonjour tout le monde.
00:04Just as I begin, I'd like to welcome Ron Bedard, the President and CEO of DeFasco.
00:12Thank you, Ron, for coming here today.
00:15More substantively, thank you for leading one of Canada's great steel companies, but
00:20also for helping us in designing some of these support measures that I'm going to talk about
00:27today and some of that we've put in place.
00:30This is an important day for Canada's workers.
00:34We know the world's changing.
00:37We know that this decades-long process of our ever-closer economic relationship between
00:43Canada and the United States has ended, and as a consequence of that, many of our strengths
00:50have become our vulnerabilities, particularly in those industries that are most tightly
00:54integrated with the United States.
00:56On the deadline last year, 75% of our exports went to the U.S., 90%, 90% of our lumber exports
01:05went to the U.S., 90% of our aluminum exports went to the United States, 90% of our steel
01:10exports went there all bound for a single market that has changed.
01:17Overall, for the Canadian economy, we estimate that U.S. tariffs and the uncertainty that they're
01:23creating will cost Canadians around 1.8% of GDP.
01:29That's about $50 billion lost from our economy or the equivalent of $1,300 for every Canadian.
01:36This is happening fast.
01:37It's a rupture, which means that our economic strategy needs to change dramatically and rapidly.
01:45And that change is in budget 2025, our plan to confront these challenges that emerge even stronger, to move our economy from reliance to resilience, and to give ourselves far more than any foreign nation can ever take away.
02:02The budget vise à bâtir un Canada fort en mettant l'accent ce que nous pouvons contrôler, c'est-à-dire bâtir ici, chez nous, afin de protéger les Canadiens et Canadiennes et de leur donner les moyens de réussir.
02:18Stimulez notre productivité pour assurer une prospérité durable, transformez la façon dont le gouvernement travaille pour vous, diversifiez nos partenariats commerciaux à l'étranger afin de créer plus de possibilités et d'accroître notre indépendance.
02:40The core of this strategy in budget 2025 is to unleash $1 trillion in total investments in Canada over the course of the next five years.
02:54That alone will increase our GDP by over 3.5%, or $3,500 for every Canadian worker, more than twice what's being taken from us.
03:04Now, to help get there, we must protect our workers and our industries who are most exposed to U.S. tariffs.
03:14That means in steel, aluminum, auto, and lumber sectors.
03:19Help them bridge to the future.
03:21Back in China, we have already taken measures to limit the exportations of foreign goods.
03:30To become our best clients in buying Canadians, to allow our industries to diversify and conquer new markets.
03:42To protect our workers and our industries who are touched by the American rights.
03:49Back in July, we restricted foreign steel imports entering Canada's market, expanded training and income support for steel workers, and provided liquidity relief for businesses.
04:03The government, for example, provided a $400 million loan to help El Goma Steel and Sault Ste. Marie to transition to a business model that's less reliant on the United States.
04:13In August, we introduced new measures to help the softwood lumber industry stay competitive, including financing for company restructuring, investments to diversify products, income and training supports for affected workers, and prioritizing Canadian lumber in home building.
04:32In September, we launched a comprehensive industrial strategy, with new re-skilling programs, a new $5 billion strategic response fund to help businesses pivot to new markets, and we announced that we would create a new buy Canadian policy across federal agencies.
04:52We also reduced red tape and increased loan limits to help large firms access the liquidity that they need.
05:00These measures are working.
05:02We've received close to 1,500 applications from companies across the steel, aluminum, lumber, manufacturing, automotive, and seafood sectors through our regional tariff response initiative.
05:13In the steel sector alone, more than 230 firms have applied and supports already being delivered.
05:20So, some examples, because of these initiatives, Cherubini Metal Works in Nova Scotia is modernizing its metal and fabrication lines to export more products overseas.
05:32And Hooper Welding in Hamilton will grow its capacity to produce fabrication equipment required for Canadian and international energy projects.
05:42Thank you!
05:43Thank you for your question, our investment to the company's
05:56our investment.
05:59Thank you!
06:07Our investments are also protecting workers, providing relief to nearly 37,000 Canadians during this period of uncertainty.
06:19So far, they've prevented more than 14,000 Canadians from losing their jobs.
06:24More broadly, across our economy, employment is rebounding after the early impacts of the trade war.
06:31More than 120,000 total jobs have been created since March.
06:39What we're doing today is to reinforce that momentum with new, strengthened measures to accelerate the transformation of the Canadian steel and lumber industries,
06:50to build strong domestic demand for their products, and to empower their workers and businesses to seize new markets at home and abroad.
07:01So these new measures focus on three core objectives.
07:05First, to further limit foreign steel imports so as to increase domestic demand for Canadian steel producers.
07:15Second, to make it easier to buy and build with Canadian steel and lumber.
07:20And third, to invest in workers and businesses so they have the tools and the resources that they need to drive this industrial transformation.
07:29So let me start with limiting foreign steel imports to ensure that our steel producers have a bigger share of our market.
07:38Doing so will unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic demand for those producers.
07:43We will reduce tariff-free steel imports from non-free trade area partners from 50 percent of 2024 levels, as it is today, to 20 percent of those levels.
07:57This will open up more than $850 million in new domestic demand for Canadian steel.
08:05Second, we will reduce tariff-free steel imports from non-KUSMA, non-KUSMA free trade area partners, from 100 percent of 2024 levels to 75 percent of those levels,
08:19unlocking more than $540 million in additional market access for our producers.
08:25We will impose a global 25 percent tariff on targeted imported steel derivative products, such as wind towers, prefabricated buildings, fasteners and wires, to grow demand for Canadian-made steel.
08:42Those products as a whole represent about a $10 billion market.
08:46And we will toughen our broader compliance measures to prevent foreign steel dumping.
08:53To do so, the Canadian Border Service Agency will be equipped with a dedicated steel compliance team, enhanced detection of false declarations, and expanded online reporting tools.
09:04Our temporary, horizontal remission of Canadian tariffs on imports has helped Canadian businesses deal with the early impacts of those tariffs.
09:17However, over the longer term, such broad remissions would only hurt Canada's steel sector.
09:24So, to move away from relying on imported steel, and to give Canadian companies time to adjust their supply chains to use Canadian steel,
09:35those temporary remission measures will end on January 31st, 2026, for steel used in Canada for manufacturing, food and beverage packaging, and agricultural production.
09:49Now, the second broad way to drive transformation of our strategic industries is by becoming our own best customer.
10:00So, we'll build big, with Canadian suppliers, investing in roads, bridges, homes and community centres.
10:09But later this year, we'll implement that by Canadian policy, which will ensure that Canadian materials, including steel and lumber, are prioritised in all contracts over $25 million.
10:22And that this applies across federal grants and contribution programmes, especially those in infrastructure.
10:28To maximise the use of Canadian softwood lumber in housing and infrastructure,
10:35we will prioritise shovel-ready, multi-year projects that can begin in the next 12 months, using, of course, Canadian wood.
10:44With a funding allocation of roughly $700 million next year, Build Canada Homes, our new federal home building agency,
10:52this alone will create $70 to $140 million of new demand for Canadian wood products and attract private and provincial capital to multiply that impact.
11:06In order to build on that, I'm announcing today that we will make it more affordable to transport Canadian steel and lumber across this country
11:15by cutting freight rates for transporting steel and lumber interprovincially by 50%.
11:22We'll do that through funding directly Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railways.
11:29And finally, we will increase protections for Canadian steel and lumber workers and those businesses,
11:37so they can adapt and seize new opportunities.
11:39We'll help employers retain workers by expanding our earlier supports and enhancing our work-sharing programmes,
11:48increasing income replacement ratios, income replacement benefits from 55% to 70%.
11:56We will also provide an additional $500 million to the Business Development Bank of Canada's Softwood Lumber Guarantee Program
12:06to ensure that companies have the financing and the credit support that they need to maintain and restructure their operations during this period of transformation.
12:16And similarly, we will deploy $500 million in funding under the large enterprise tariff loan facility,
12:23specifically for softwood lumber firms, the larger ones facing liquidity pressures.
12:29We'll make it easier for the forestry sector to access federal support by establishing a single window for applications,
12:38a one-stop shop to help companies navigate our broad suite of support programmes.
12:44And lastly, we will launch a Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force
12:49that seeks input and recommendations from provinces, territories and industry
12:54on how to seize new opportunities in softwood lumber and create new growth in the sector.
13:01Ces mesures de soutien jumelées à celles mises en place plus tôt cette année
13:07permettront aux producteurs d'acier canadiens et de bois d'oeuvre canadiens
13:11de bénéficier d'un accès au marché intérieur représentant des centaines de millions de dollars.
13:18C'est-à-dire, en effet, c'est plus d'un milliard de dollars.
13:24Elles créeront de nouvelles possibilités pour les travailleurs à mesure que la demande intérieure augmentera
13:30et offriront aux entreprises le soutien dont elles ont besoin pour s'adapter au contexte mondial en pleine évolution.
13:40Nous veillons à ce que les entreprises canadiennes du secteur de l'acier et de bois d'oeuvre
13:45disposent des capitaux, des talents et du temps nécessaires pour acquérir les compétences,
13:53les outils et les installations qui leur permettront de contribuer à bâtir une économie canadienne forte.
14:00Le dollars de millions de dollars d'infrastructure et de housing investments
14:07que l'Université 2025 va faire créer des demandes de la demande pour canadiens de steel et de lumbar,
14:13comme le plus de nos nouveaux trade et investissements en place au monde.
14:18L'année semaine, je suis en Abu Dhabi, où l'UE annoncé leur décision de investir $70 billion en Canada.
14:26In Johannesburg, for the G20, we launched discussions towards a Canada-South Africa
14:32foreign investment promotion and partnership agreement that will deepen investment between our two nations.
14:39And we agreed to launch comprehensive free trade talks with India, the world's fifth largest economy.
14:47Nous avons étermé des négociations commerciales avec l'EAU et les Philippines et la Thaïlande
14:56et nous travaillons dans la finalisation de notre accord avec l'ANAS.
15:01Cela s'ajoute aux accords que notre gouvernement a déjà conclus avec l'Indonésie, l'État, l'Union européenne et l'Allemagne.
15:09Les pays du monde entier souhaitent investir au Canada et partir avec nous.
15:18Nous réalisons les investissements stratégiques nécessaires pour que nous puissions produire et exporter
15:25plus de ceux dont le monde a besoin, notamment de l'acier canadien et de bois d'oeuvre canadien.
15:32The Canadian steel and lumber industries will always be at the heart of Canada's competitiveness,
15:40our security and our strength.
15:43These are sectors that reflect our country's character, resilient and forward-looking,
15:49with a history of reinventing themselves at pivotal moments.
15:53And at this hard moment of our history, Canada passes from the independence to the resilience.
16:01We can give us much more than what no matter which government will never be able to remove us.
16:11We build a single Canadian economy in the place of 13.
16:15We build together projects of national interest projects.
16:21Nous réalisons des investissements sans précédent dans notre défense et notre sécurité,
16:27et nous diversifions nos relations commerciales.
16:32We'll build Canada strong with the workers and the resources that build our community strong.
16:40Canadian workers, Canadian steel and lumber.
16:42With them, we'll build Hamilton strong.
16:45Sous-Saint-Marie strong.
16:47Saganay fort.
16:48Myrmachie fort.
16:50Follin Canada fort.
16:52Canada strong.
16:54Merci.
16:54I look forward to your questions.
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