Federal minister says 500 laid off employees at northern Ontario steel mill could be rehired next year

The federal government says roughly half of the workers expected to be laid off at Algoma Steel will be eligible to be rehired by the end of next year.

During a visit to the mill in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly received a shared commitment from both the company and its two unions that 500 of the 1,000 jobs on the chopping block in March 2026 can be saved.  

Joly said the government is willing to offer financial support to Algoma Steel’s planns to open a new plate mill for bidding on defence contracts, as well as a structural beams production plant to attract new customers in housing and infrastructure projects.

“That will make Algoma and Sault Ste. Marie less dependent on the U.S.,” she said. “Their business model used to send steel at a lower cost because of our dollar to U.S. automakers. We cannot have Algoma and Sault Ste. Marie so vulnerable and so dependent [on the] U.S. again.”

Joly told CBC that a second commitment was also made that would ensure all employees impacted by the layoffs would have access to re-training programs.

“That way, they can be supported while they’re getting trained to either have the choice to go back to work at Algoma, or be able to work in another trade — including construction,” she said.

“I want to make sure people have a choice at the end of their re-training.”

Layoff notices were sent to around 1,000 of the mill’s 2,800 workers Monday as Algoma is shutting down its blast furnace and coke-making operations to transition to electric steelmaking.

Algoma Steel said the transition will happen one year sooner than expected due to trade tensions with the U.S.

The mill received $500 million in government loans to protect it from U.S. tariffs back in September — a move the feds said may have saved the company from shutting down altogether.

Joly pointed to the government’s “Buy Canadian Policy” as providing a significant boost to the Algoma Steel. She said the plant is now receiving phone calls from shipyards across the country “like it never did before.”

Federal moves like blocking foreign steel shipments have also increased demand for what the Sault Ste. Marie mill produces, Joly noted. 

When asked why the news of rehiring hundreds of employees couldn’t have been made before the announcement of the job cuts, Joly said she was only aware of Monday’s impending layoffs the night before. 

“I was as frustrated as everyone. It changed my entire plan to be in Sault Ste. Marie this week — to meet with the union [and] with the company and to get to a better place,” she said.