1) (Updated) Economy posts biggest job loss since 2022 as U.S. tariffs begin to take their toll

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Craig Wong, April 4, 2025.

March saw the Canadian economy post its biggest job loss since January 2022 as the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs started to take a toll.

Statistics Canada said Friday the economy shed 33,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.7 per cent compared with 6.6 per cent in February.

RSM Canada economist Tu Nguyen said the result was a glimpse of what may be in store as the trade dispute with the U.S. ramps up and the country faces the possibility of a recession.

“We saw a lot of layoffs happening in trade in March and we expect April to see even more layoffs and a rise in the unemployment rate,” she said in an interview. 

“Some manufacturing plants, especially in auto production, have already laid off their workers.”

The job losses reversed some of the gains made at the end of last year and into January.

Last month, the U.S. imposed tariffs on non-USMCA compliant imports from Canada as well as steel and aluminum imports as tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump went through a number of revisions and delays, heaping uncertainty onto businesses.

The U.S. also announced last month sector-specific tariffs on automobile imports that came into effect this week along with wide-ranging tariffs on other countries around the world, prompting concerns about the possibility of a global recession.

Nguyen said Canadian job losses will continue to rack up if the tariffs remain in place, pointing to the decision by Stellantis to pause work for two weeks at its assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., as it assesses the situation as an example of what may be to come.

“The auto sector is so integrated in North America that once you hit one country, you’re going to hit everybody,” she said.

RBC senior economist Claire Fan said the March jobs report was slightly softer than the bank expected, but the concern is that there is still further weakness to come.

“Moreover, broader U.S. growth risks from much larger tariffs threatened to be imposed on imports from most of the rest of the world would spill over to negatively impact Canada as well,” she wrote.

Fan noted Canada lost around 7,000 manufacturing jobs in March. 

“Employment in the sector will be watched closely in future jobs reports, for signs of tariffs impacting labour conditions in Canada,” she said.

Nguyen said the Bank of Canada is in a difficult position because there is still some underlying inflation.

“But given how weak the March jobs report is and given we are foreseeing a recession given the current tariff rate, I think the Bank of Canada might consider lowering the interest rate to 2.5 per cent,” she said.

The current benchmark rate is 2.75 per cent after seven consecutive cuts. 

The Bank of Canada’s next interest rate decision is set for April 16 when it will also release its latest monetary policy report which will include its updated forecasts for the economy.

Statistics Canada reported 62,000 full-time jobs were lost in the month, partly offset by a gain in part-time employment.

The wholesale and retail trade sector lost 29,000 jobs in March, following an increase of 51,000 in February.

The information, culture and recreation sector lost 20,000 jobs, while the agriculture sector lost 9,300 jobs.

Meanwhile, the “other services” sector, which includes personal and repair services, added 12,000 jobs. Utilities added 4,200 jobs.

Total hours worked were up 0.4 per cent in March, following a drop of 1.3 per cent in February.

Average hourly wages among employees rose 3.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis in March.

2) (Updated) Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will match U.S. auto tariffs

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kyle Duggan, April 3, 2025.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada will hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent auto tariffs with matching levies on vehicles imported from the United States.

At a press conference on Parliament Hill, Carney said Canada’s counter-tariffs will hit all vehicles that do not comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, along with any non-Canadian content in compliant vehicles.

That means any vehicles made with less than 75 per cent North American content will face 25 per cent tariffs — a measure which could capture tens of thousands of vehicle imports, according to a background document provided by the Prime Minister’s Office. That could amount to roughly 10 per cent of all cars coming in from the U.S.

The counter-tariffs will not apply to vehicle content from Mexico or to individual auto parts.

Carney said the move could raise as much as $8 billion before any requests for tariff relief are factored in. All of that money, he said, will go directly to autoworkers and companies in Canada affected by the burgeoning trade war.

He called Trump’s tariffs on Canada unjustified, unwarranted and misguided — and warned that Trump’s overall campaign of trade hostility against countries around the world will “rupture” the global economy.

“Given the prospective damage to their own people, the American administration should eventually change course — but I don’t want to give false hope,” Carney said.

“Although their policy will hurt American families, until that pain becomes impossible to ignore, I do not believe they will change direction. So the road to that point may indeed be long and it will be hard on Canadians, just as it will be on other partners of the United States.”

Carney made the remarks on Parliament Hill after meeting with Canada’s premiers virtually to discuss Trump’s tariffs, and as Canadian automakers started to feel the effects those tariffs.

Unifor Local 444 announced Wednesday night that the Stellantis auto assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., will close down for at least two weeks and warned that the Trump tariffs are creating uncertainty across the entire industry.

Carney said he’s working on a “framework” to offer auto producers in Canada relief from the counter-tariffs.

The prime minister also spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday about deepening economic ties and Canada’s plan to fight back against Trump’s trade hostilities.

On Wednesday, Trump confirmed he is going ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on automobile imports starting Thursday, which were added to existing 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., including from Canada.

He also unveiled a 10 per cent baseline tariff on imports from most countries and a lengthy list of higher tariffs dozens of countries will face. But a White House fact sheet said goods imported under the CUSMA free-trade pact will not face tariffs, although imports that fall outside of it will be hit with 25 per cent levies.

Both Canada and Mexico remain under the threat of economywide duties Trump has linked to the flow of fentanyl across the borders.

In early March, Trump imposed — and then partially paused — those 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy and potash.

The retaliatory tariffs on autos announced Thursday are being added to Canada’s initial $30-billion response to Trump’s first tariff moves, and its $29.8 billion response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

Trump’s trade war has forced all parties campaigning in the general election to adjust their messages.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed Thursday to take the GST off all new Canadian-made cars as long as Trump’s auto tariffs stay in place.

“No, I don’t consider the Americans to be a reliable trade partner right now,” he said. “Their president has chosen to betray America’s best friend and closest ally. I’m saddened to say that because I love the American people, but there’s no denying that there is a president right now who consistently betrays the Canadian people and shows that he has been unreliable to deal with.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh proposed issuing “victory bonds” to help Ottawa raise funds to fight back against Trump’s tariff threats, similar to bonds issued during both world wars to fund the war effort.

He said Canadians are “wrapping themselves in the flag” and looking for ways to do their part. He said the bonds could boost the economy, with every dollar raised put toward domestic infrastructure projects.

3) Senate Republicans vote with Democrats to halt tariffs on Canadian imports

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Stephen Groves, April 3, 2025

The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada, delivering a rare rebuke to the president just hours after he unveiled sweeping plans to clamp down on international trade.

The Senate resolution, passed by a 51-48 vote tally with four Republicans and all Democrats in support, would end Trump’s emergency declaration on fentanyl trafficking that underpins tariffs on Canada. Trump earlier Wednesday announced orders — his so-called “Liberation Day” — to impose import taxes on a slew of international trading partners, though Canadian imports for now were spared from new taxes.

The Senate’s legislation has practically no chance of passing the Republican-controlled House and being signed by Trump, but it showed the limits of Republican support for Trump’s vision of remaking the U.S. economy by restricting free trade. Many economists are warning that the plan could cause an economic contraction, and GOP senators are already watching with unease as Trump upends the United States’ relationship with the rest of the world.

Trump earlier Wednesday singled out the four Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rand Paul of Kentucky — who voted in favor of the resolution.

In a statement following the vote, McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, said, “As I have always warned, tariffs are bad policy, and trade wars with our partners hurt working people most.”

To justify the tariffs, Trump has argued that Canada is not doing enough to stop illegal drugs from entering the northern border. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl in its northern border sector during the 2024 fiscal year, and since January, authorities have seized less than 1.5 pounds, according to federal data. Meanwhile, at the southern border, authorities seized over 21,000 pounds last year.

“This is not about fentanyl. It’s about tariffs. It’s about a national sales tax on American families,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat who initiated the resolution, at a news conference Wednesday.

Democrats argued that Trump is using the tariffs to pay for proposed tax cuts that would benefit the wealthy, but will also make it more expensive to build homes, buy cars and pay for imported grocery products. Kaine pointed to aluminum imported from Canada that is used by businesses ranging from pie makers to shipbuilders.

“Today, Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer to the American economy and even to the American dream,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech.

On the heels of election results in Wisconsin and Florida that delivered early warning signs to Republicans about the popularity of Trump’s agenda, Schumer said that the president is particularly vulnerable when it comes to the economy.

“Once the American people say, ‘I don’t want to embrace somebody, I don’t want to vote for somebody, I don’t want to support somebody who embraces Trump’s policies,’ things are going to change,” he told reporters. “Public sentiment is everything.”

At the White House on Wednesday, Trump singled out Canada as a beneficiary of “unfair” trading practices with the U.S., though his latest order did not add to tariffs already in place on Canada and Mexico.

“Why are we doing this? I mean, at what point do we say, ‘You’ve got to work for yourselves and you’ve got to’? This is why we have the big deficits,” Trump said.

For their part, Republican leaders tried to hold their members in line not by talking about the impacts of tariffs, but by emphasizing that Trump was acting to address fentanyl trafficking and border security.

Majority Whip Sen. John Barrasso argued in a floor speech that former President Joe Biden had “also thrown open the northern border. The criminal cartels noticed and they took advantage.”

“There are unique threats to the United States at our northern border,” the Wyoming senator said. “President Trump is taking the bold, decisive, swift action that is necessary to secure that border as well.”

Republicans lined up on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to underscore the need to act to halt fentanyl trafficking, including at the northern border. However, it was not enough to persuade a key group of Senate Republicans who objected to the tax on Canadian imports.

In a floor speech Wednesday, Collins said she would support the resolution and noted, “The fact is the vast majority of fentanyl in America comes from the southern border.”

Collins said that Canada is already beefing up border security to address drug trafficking, yet she was concerned about what tariffs would do to businesses and households in Maine. She pointed to a paper mill in her home state that pumps paper pulp from Canada.

“A tariff placed on this pulp would jeopardize the financial wellbeing of this vital paper mill, which employs more than 500 people in rural, northern Maine. There is not another big employer in that area that can possibly compensate for the loss of those 510 direct jobs,” Collins said.

Paul, a Kentucky Republican who often supports libertarian economic views, also delivered an impassioned floor speech, arguing that the president should not be given unilateral authority to impose taxes on imports.

“Every dollar collected in tariff revenue comes straight out of the pockets of American consumers,” he said. “Conservatives used to understand that tariffs are taxes on the American people. Conservatives used to be uniformly opposed to raising taxes because we wanted the private marketplace, the private individuals to keep more of their income.”

While a younger group of Republicans closely aligned with Trump has spoken out in favor of the president’s plans to aggressively reshape the economy, a sizable portion of the Republican Conference voiced concerns about the tariff impacts on farmers and other industries. Still, most wanted to give Trump room in hopes that he would negotiate better trade deals.

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said that he has been in constant talks with both Canadian officials and businesses in his state, like Bobcat, which does a significant amount of its sales in Canada. He voted against the resolution. Instead, he hoped that Trump’s order would just be a starting point for negotiations to mutually drop tariffs.

The Republican added: “I’m not overly concerned about it, but obviously it occupies a lot of attention and time and a lot of political anxiety.”

Democrats planned to keep pressing into that anxiety. After Trump’s announcement, Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on social media he would also force a similar vote in the House on the tariffs.

“Republicans can’t keep ducking this — it’s time they show whether they support the economic pain Trump is inflicting on their constituents,” he said.

4) Trump’s tariffs trigger two-week shutdown at Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, April 3, 2025.

The Stellantis logo is shown at the North American International Auto Show, Sept. 13, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Automaker Stellantis is temporarily pausing production at its assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., for two weeks as it assesses the effects of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles.

The company says work at the Ontario plant will pause for the weeks of April 7 and April 14. Operations will resume the week of April 21.

The Windsor Assembly Plant produces the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Grand Caravan, Chrysler Voyager and Dodge Charger Daytona.

Stellantis says the halting of work at the Canadian plant as well as some of its Mexican assembly operations will affect several of its U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities.

Officials with Unifor Local 444, which represents workers at the plant, say the move was not entirely unexpected.

The union says the notice it received from the company also suggested that more changes to the plant’s schedule were likely in the coming weeks.

5) (Updated) Trump’s tariffs will fundamentally change global trading system: Carney

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone, April 2, 2025

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Donald Trump’s tariff regime will “fundamentally change the global trading system” after the U.S. president exempted Canada from his so-called “liberation day” tariff list unveiled on Wednesday.

“In a crisis, it’s important to come together and it’s essential to act with purpose and with force, and that’s what we will do,” Carney said in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Trump announced a 10 per cent baseline tariff on imports from most countries and higher duties on dozens of nations he said run trade surpluses with the U.S. Those higher tariffs include a 20 per cent levy on imports from the European Union, a 25 per cent tariff on South Korea and a 32 per cent levy on Taiwan.

The White House said Canada and Mexico remain under previous economywide duties the president has linked to the flow of fentanyl across the borders and are not subject to Trump’s latest tariffs.

In early March, Trump imposed — and then partially paused — 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy and potash.

A White House fact sheet issued Wednesday said goods imported under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA, will still not face tariffs. Imports that fall outside the continental trade pact are hit with the 25 per cent tariff.

If that fentanyl-related executive action ends, imports that fall outside CUSMA would drop to 12 per cent tariffs, the fact sheet said.

As Liberal leader, Carney paused his federal election campaign Wednesday to take part in meetings with his Canada-U. S. relations council and a cabinet committee. He will meet with the premiers Thursday morning.

The prime minister said that while Canada wasn’t hit with the latest levies, it’s still subject to 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum and 25 per cent duties on automobile imports which will come into force on Thursday.

The automobile tariffs have spread confusion throughout the deeply integrated North American auto market.

A White House official confirmed Monday cars made under CUSMA rules will be hit with devastating duties until a system is set up to gauge how much of each finished car is made with American components. When that system is in place, tariffs will only hit the value of non-American parts.

Trump has promised his massive tariff agenda will boost manufacturing in the United States — but Carney said it will have a negative impact on both the U.S. and Canadian economies.

“The series of measures will directly affect millions of Canadians,” Carney said. “We are going to fight these tariffs with countermeasures, we are going to protect our workers and we are going to build the strongest economy in the G7.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the signals Wednesday from the White House were positive and reflected his efforts to press Canada’s case through meetings with Trump administration officials and American media interviews.

“This all goes back to relationships,” he said. “I’ve always believed that in business and government, you have to build a relationship. I believe we have built it.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said that “for now, it appears that Canada’s approach of a co-ordinated, strong and measured response while continuing to engage with U.S. government officials at all levels has been successful.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the tariff news “an important win for Canada and Alberta” but said there is still work to be done on the Canada-U.S. trade relationship.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt was less optimistic. She told reporters Wednesday the uncertainty, pain and stress of the past few months isn’t going away.

“You don’t treat your neighbours like this,” she said.

Canada’s case against the duties was taken up in the U.S. Senate Wednesday, where lawmakers narrowly voted to pass a resolution to end the emergency at the northern border — a largely symbolic move that saw a handful of Republicans rebuke Trump’s tariffs.

Democrats forced the vote on Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency over fentanyl trafficking in order to hit Canada with tariffs. Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine called it a “made-up emergency.”

U.S. government data shows that only a very small amount of fentanyl is seized at the northern border. The Annual Threat Assessment report, released last week, does not mention Canada in its section on illicit drugs and fentanyl.

Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, said that Canadian “neighbours” are working with American law enforcement and the problem of fentanyl at the northern border is minor. She said the Maine economy is intertwined with Canada’s and the tariffs would be devastating for businesses and families in her state.

While the Democrats’ resolution has passed the Senate, it probably won’t stop Trump’s emergency declaration because it’s not likely to come up in the House, where Republicans have indicated they won’t push against the president’s tariff agenda.

Trump said on social media earlier Wednesday that “it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.”

— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa, Allison Jones in Toronto and Hina Alam in Fredericton

5) Updated) Trump threatens EU and Canada with more tariffs as U.S. official calls for calm

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone and Liam Casey, March 27, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his tariff threats against Canada on Thursday [March 27th] — after a senior White House official cautioned Canadians to hold off on reacting to auto tariffs because relief could be on the way.

Trump posted on social media that if “the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!”

Trump’s comments follow his move Wednesday to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all automobile imports to the U.S. starting next week. This latest episode in Trump’s growing global trade war pushed some automakers’ stock prices down as rattled markets struggled to anticipate the president’s next trade moves.

Despite Trump’s heated words on social media, a senior Ontario government source not authorized to speak publicly said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Premier Doug Ford Wednesday to assure him that there would be a “significant easing” of automobile tariffs on vehicles made under the rules of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, also called CUSMA.

The source said Lutnick told Ford that while the tariffs would not disappear, Canadian companies could end up with a significant advantage over vehicles imported from other countries.

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to implement duties on automobile imports starting April 3. A fact sheet provided by the White House said automobiles imported under CUSMA, which was negotiated during the first Trump administration, will only be tariffed on the value of content not made in the United States.

The executive order also imposes tariffs on certain auto parts, including engines, transmissions and electrical components. The move is likely to sow more confusion in the North American automotive sector — a highly integrated continental industry that sends vehicle parts across borders multiple times before completion.

Prime Minister Mark Carney interrupted his election campaign Thursday and returned to Ottawa to lead a meeting of the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee. Carney has called the auto tariffs a “direct attack” on Canadian autoworkers and promised swift action and support.

The European Union and Canada have not issued statements to indicate they’re collaborating on a response to the new tariffs.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a media statement that the EU’s executive branch would assess the impact of the duties and vowed to protect consumers and businesses.

Trump said the automobile tariffs would be permanent and automakers would “have to move their parts divisions back to the United States.”

Manufacturers and experts have said redistributing a deeply integrated North American industry would not be easy or quick.

“The result is higher costs for manufacturers, price increases for consumers, and a less competitive industry,” Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, said in a media statement.

“We continue to urge all parties that all (CUSMA)-compliant parts, components, and vehicles be free of tariffs under that agreement.”

The tariffs will be felt across the American supply chain, said MichAuto executive director Glenn Stevens Jr.

“This means jobs lost, increased input costs and pressure on the balance sheets of companies large and small,” said Stevens Jr., who represents the automobile association in Michigan.

“Companies that export vehicles and parts to the U.S. will need to make decisions on whether existing facilities in the U.S. have capacity or can be expanded.”