Stelco will recall 175 laid-off workers and restart its Hamilton, Ontario cold-rolled and galvanized finishing operations on Dec. 1, with retroactive pay for the layoff period.
By Hermes Vector
Stelco will recall 175 laid-off workers and restart its cold-rolled and galvanized finishing operations in Hamilton, Ontario, on Dec. 1, reversing a September shutdown. The company said it secured enough customer orders to justify reopening the plant and that recalled employees will receive retroactive standard wages for the period they were off the job.
Stelco president Paul Simon said in a statement: "I would like to thank our valued customers for the faith they have placed in us, and our workers for the patience and resilience they have continued to demonstrate during this challenging period."
The company attributed the restart to customer commitments and repeated criticism of Ottawa's tariff-response program and offshore imports. Stelco said buyers had agreed to support the Hamilton finishing operations "despite the lack of response from the federal government to address the shortfalls in their tariff-response program and the continued flood of offshore imports of galvanized products that have eroded our domestic market."
The September idling drew a response from Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who said the cuts breached binding commitments Cleveland-Cliffs made when it acquired Stelco in 2024. The transaction, valued at about $3.4 billion, required approval under the Investment Canada Act, and the government says the company pledged to hold unionized headcount at 2024 levels through 2029.
Joly wrote to the company on Oct. 22 giving it 15 days to demonstrate compliance or face possible legal action. When that window closed, she asked the Competition Bureau to review Stelco's conduct and had signaled she would seek a court order forcing Cleveland-Cliffs to divest the Hamilton plant if the company did not respond.
Stelco said full production will take several weeks to resume. The company had initially warned that as many as 500 positions could be eliminated when it idled the finishing lines.
In 2025, Ottawa imposed quotas on foreign steel: countries without a free trade agreement with Canada are limited to 20 percent of the volume they shipped in 2024, while free trade partners are capped at 75 percent. Shipments above those levels face a 50 percent duty.
The recall removes, at least for now, the threat of a prolonged supply gap in Canadian cold-rolled and galvanized steel. For Cleveland-Cliffs, the decision averts the risk of litigation or a forced sale of the Canadian assets, though the underlying dispute over tariff protection and the terms of the 2024 takeover remains unresolved. The Competition Bureau review requested by Joly is separate from the Investment Canada Act commitments, and its outcome could yet reshape the company's Canadian footprint.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
The day's checked news, by email
One short email a day with the top stories. Free, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Or follow for the latest news:
No comments yet. Start the discussion.
The Producer Price Index rose 6.5% annually in October, the biggest increase since November 2022, driven by energy and food costs.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has asked former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify in December over national security concerns tied to Nvidia chip exports to China.
