As MPs get ready to vote on the federal budget, those in the auto sector say they’re concerned it fails to meet the needs of workers in the industry.
The budget did include some aspects that auto sector officials noted can be helpful, such as the productivity super deduction to make it cheaper for businesses to invest in equipment, but they said there isn’t enough targeted on sectors heavily hit by U.S. tariffs.
“The budget encompasses very large projects and really is lacking in direct support for autoworkers being affected by these tariffs,” said Jeff Gray, president of Unifor Local 222, which represents more than 8,000 active workers including those at Oshawa’s General Motors facility. The union also represents approximately 13,000 retired workers as well.
Gray said he was pleased by recent federal action that saw Ottawa cut how many U.S. vehicles Stellantis and GM could import tariff-free, but he said he wants to see more direct support for laid-off autoworkers.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s budget included the previously-announced Strategic Response Fund aimed at providing tariff-affected sectors to access funding to allow them to realign to new markets. The fund also says will support impacted workers through a “major reskilling effort.”
This is a concern for Gray, though, who told Global News the “last thing” he wants to see is retraining for auto workers, saying direct financial support is what’s truly needed.
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“Once you’re out of this sector, a lot of our members don’t have skills that can transition into other sectors,” he said. “So we do not want to see an emphasis on retraining or action centres, but rather direct financial supports for workers if they are indeed laid off to help them cope through the layoff to a point where we can get manufacturing and the auto sector back on its feet and it’s back into a hiring position again.”
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He added the support is needed with approximately 700 employees at the Oshawa GM plant to be laid off when the company cuts its third shift in January.
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Officials within the auto industry say targeted support could be useful, but with the ongoing trade war with the U.S. and Canada’s dependence on its southern neighbour, and end to that conflict is necessary.
“There really is no level of targeted support that could offset the fact that this industry is totally dependent on trade with the United States,” said Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association.
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“Putting in programs to support the sector while helpful, we ultimately have to get those tariffs removed.”
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Kingston, whose organization represents GM, Stellantis and Ford in Canada, said in an interview that there are things the government could do “right now” that were not in the budget.
Among them is removing the federal EV mandate, which he said is “extremely costly” for manufacturers, and taking steps to make Canada more competitive for automotive manufacturing.
“We’ve been responsive to U.S. policy for decades,” Kingston said. “Comprehensive tax reform, real regulatory reform that gets rid of duplicative regs (regulations) like the EV mandate and that would insulate us from U.S. policy changes by making Canada the place where people want to come and build cars.”
Some in the auto sector say they’re waiting for more details on aspects of the budget they believe could still help the sector, even if “auto” wasn’t explicitly mentioned.
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Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, said he’s wanting to see more details about the Strategic Response Fund, changes to taxes to make Canada more competitive and language surrounding investments for defence that could also involve manufacturing.
“All of Canada is suffering under a higher cost burden and a bunch of commercial anxiety,” Volpe said. “The best we could have expected was here’s the challenge and the funds available if you take that challenge. So we’re satisfied, we really are.”
MPs will vote on the budget on Monday evening, but it’s not yet known if it will pass or if Canadians could head back to the polls for their second election in seven months.
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