Stelco rejects Ottawa's claims as layoffs begin; Joly says court-ordered sale stays on the table

Stelco has rejected the federal government's accusation that it breached its undertakings under the Investment Canada Act, calling the claims "false" and saying it "stands ready to protect its interests," in a letter from president Paul Simon shared with Global News on Monday.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly had given the company five days to submit a plan for meeting commitments made when Cleveland-Cliffs completed its C$3.4-billion takeover of Stelco in 2024 — including maintaining unionized employment levels for five years. As many as 500 workers face layoffs at Hamilton Works, where the wind-down of cold-rolled and coated steel operations began Oct. 9.

Responding publicly on Saturday, Joly said the commitments "do not cease to apply because of changing business strategy or market conditions," and that legal options — including a court-ordered sale of the business — remain available to Ottawa, according to reporting on her remarks.

No court filing has been reported as of Monday; the forced sale is a threatened remedy, not an order.

The dispute sits squarely inside the U.S. trade war. Stelco has blamed 50 per cent U.S. steel tariffs for the cuts, while Joly has noted that Cleveland-Cliffs' chief executive publicly supported those tariffs. Carney previously said the company had "betrayed" Canadian workers.

The local United Steelworkers chapter estimates about 350 steelworkers are among those affected. The standoff is a test case for whether foreign-takeover job commitments carry real consequences — Canada previously took U.S. Steel to court over similar undertakings in 2009. Manufacturing shed a net 12,700 jobs nationally in September, Statistics Canada reported Friday.