Joly rejects Stelco compliance report, wants recall

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly rejected Stelco’s latest compliance report as “far from satisfactory” on Thursday and said laid-off workers must be recalled before she will meet the CEO of its U.S. owner, Cleveland-Cliffs, The Canadian Press reported.

In a new letter to the steelmaker, Joly said the report did not change her belief that Stelco and Cleveland-Cliffs are not in compliance with their undertakings under the Investment Canada Act. “Assertions of compliance are not a substitute for the information and evidence necessary to establish compliance,” she wrote.

Joly told reporters that Lourenco Goncalves has been wanting a meeting. “First bring back the jobs and then we’ll meet,” she said. “I want a plan, I want a timeline.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney said at a news conference in Montreal that it would be a mistake for Cleveland-Cliffs to fail to honour the commitments it made when it bought Stelco. He declined to say whether Ottawa could force a sale, saying a legal process is underway.

The Ohio-based company acquired Stelco in 2024 and agreed to legally binding commitments, including maintaining employment levels for unionized workers and most salaried staff for five years. Stelco announced on Sept. 28 that it planned to lay off up to 500 workers at its Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont., mills, citing U.S. tariffs, weak demand and imported steel. The company and the union have confirmed 175 layoffs so far, all in Hamilton.

Goncalves said Wednesday he hopes to recall all 175 workers before Dec. 25 if a plan to boost sales of Canadian-made steel to domestic customers works. As we reported, the company said it is in full compliance and sought talks, and Joly earlier called in lawyers over the owner’s remarks.

United Steelworkers Local 1005 members rallied outside Stelco’s Hamilton Works on Thursday. Marty Warren, the union’s national director, said Cleveland-Cliffs is using workers “as a pawn in the bigger trade deal.” He said most imported steel competing with the Hamilton operations comes from the United States, and that “nothing is off the table” on whether the union would back forcing a sale.

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Source: The Canadian Press, Oct. 29, 2026.