OTTAWA — The federal government is turning up the heat on the U.S. owner of Stelco Holdings Inc. over impending layoffs at the Hamilton-based steel plant.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly sent a letter to Stelco president Paul Simon on Monday laying out her “extreme disappointment” over the company’s plan to lay off 500 workers in response to U.S. tariffs and other market pressures.

Canada gave U.S.-based Cleveland-Cliffs the go-ahead to purchase Stelco back in 2024 under the Investment Canada Act.

Joly says Canada’s approval of that takeover was contingent on the new owner maintaining the number of union jobs and the majority of non-union positions.

She writes in the letter that those conditions don’t expire just because “business strategy or market conditions have changed.”

Joly says Ottawa is asking Cleveland-Cliffs for its plan to comply with all undertakings of the original acquisition within five days or the government will consider legal action.

The existence of Joly’s letter was first reported by the Toronto Star.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.

The Canadian Press