Ottawa is giving Cleveland-Cliffs, Stelco’s U.S. parent company, five business days to explain how it will meet its Canadian employment commitments after Stelco announced cuts affecting up to 500 workers, warning that it could take legal action.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly wrote to Stelco president Paul Simon on Oct. 5, expressing her “extreme disappointment” over the planned layoffs associated with the indefinite idling of finishing operations at the company’s Hamilton, Ont., plant.
Joly said the proposed layoffs would violate binding employment commitments that Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs made when Ottawa approved its $3.4 billion acquisition of Stelco in 2024 under the Investment Canada Act….