Canada Strong: Government support programs for workers and businesses

The Governments of Canada and Ontario announced investments and new measures to strengthen steel, automotive and critical minerals industries, to support workers and businesses impacted by U.S. tariffs, and drive long-term economic growth.

This program will provide flexible and easy-to-access support for businesses facing economic challenges. It will help businesses retain and retrain workers who have agreed to work temporarily reduced hours and will provide employers with funding of up to $1,000 per participating employee to support training costs.

The government will bolster the Regional Tariff Response Initiative delivered by Canada's seven Regional Development Agencies by $1.5 billion. This will help small and medium-sized enterprises respond to tariff pressures.

The government has introduced a second $500 million liquidity stream through BDC’s Pivot to Grow program, to provide working capital to businesses facing cash-flow shortfalls as a result of U.S. tariffs. This new liquidity stream will be added to provide working capital support for small and medium-sized businesses facing immediate cashflow pressures.

With an additional $2 billion in funding, this new stream of the Strategic Response Fund (SRF) will have expanded flexibility to support tariff-impacted companies with shovel-ready projects that support ongoing capital maintenance, including medium-sized firms.