International trade

Unifor is welcoming a federal government proposal to tighten the rules on aluminum imports, calling it a meaningful step toward protecting Canadian jobs and industry from unfair trade.

"Canadian aluminum workers produce some of the cleanest, highest-quality aluminum in the world. They shouldn't have to compete against shipments that hide their true origin to dodge our trade rules," said Unifor National President Lana Payne. "This is exactly the kind of action workers in our sector have been calling for, and it's a credit to every member who carried that message to Ottawa."  

TORONTO - Unifor National President Lana Payne will advocate for bold federal action to protect Canadian jobs, rebuild domestic capacity, and put workers at the centre of Canada’s industrial strategy as a member of the new federal Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations. 

The following statement was released jointly today by Canada’s two largest industrial unions, Unifor and the United Steelworkers:

U.S. sector-based tariffs (“section 232 tariffs”) have hit Canadian manufacturing workers and businesses hard, impacting families and entire communities. Many Canadian steel mills, auto plants, wood product facilities and aluminum fabricators have slowed or shuttered production, leaving thousands of skilled workers unemployed.

TORONTO—As Canadian workers mark one year of economic disruption and job losses triggered by U.S. tariffs targeting Canada’s auto industry and other key sectors, Unifor is escalating the union’s clear demand to corporate and government decision-makers: “Sell Here. Build Here.”

“The last twelve months saw workers in trade exposed industries go through hell. We’ve witnessed job loss and workers left in limbo as Trump continues to hammer our economy,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. 

This week marks one year since the United States imposed 25% tariffs on the import of Canadian autos, one of the most damaging measures in a series of escalating trade attacks by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian workers and industries.

The auto tariffs struck at the heart of Canada’s manufacturing economy, threatening tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and disrupting an integrated North American supply chain.

For more than a year, Canadian workers have been on the front lines of Donald Trump’s trade war and the damage it has caused across key sectors of our economy.

OSHAWA–Workers at the General Motors Oshawa Assembly Complex will report for the final third shift today, as the company eliminates more than 700 direct jobs with hundreds of additional jobs lost at supply chain companies. The job cuts come in the same week GM reported more than $12 billion in pre-tax earnings for 2025, along with a plan to boost shareholders earnings through dividend increases and a $6 billion share buyback.

Unifor took to Parliament Hill to push MPs from all sitting parties to enact worker’s demands to Protect Canadian Jobs, as U.S. imposed tariffs continue to put Canadian jobs and entire communities at risk across the country.

During the union’s federal lobby week, Unifor leadership, including national officers, National Executive Board members and local leaders sat down to share their experiences in workplaces and industries at risk, and to push for urgent action. 

Hundreds of members gathered at the Unifor Local 1285 hall on February 19 to hear an update on the union’s push to reopen the idled Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant.

Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato opened the meeting with a message of resolve, vowing to hold the company accountable.

TORONTO- The U.S. Supreme Court ruling to strike down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) represents a legal rebuke of presidential overreach but does nothing to resolve the ongoing trade crisis threatening Canadian jobs and key industrial sectors.