A monthly review of labour market insights.

Mr. Bibic,
The threat of U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods is cause for great concern, as you will no doubt agree. Unjustified tariffs, of the magnitude the U.S. President is proposing, will upend the North American economy – hurting workers, businesses, and consumers on both sides of the border. The waging of “economic warfare” on Canada, emboldened by a stated desire (whether serious or not) to annex Canada, presents an existential crisis for this country. Canadians, across all civil society, are standing up to the threat, as they must. As the country collectively copes with this economic crisis and open threat to our sovereignty the work of Canadians in telecommunications, media and journalism has never been so important.
Bell Canada, and its 20,000 Unifor-represented employees working in telecommunications and media divisions, are not immune from this threat or the consequences of a trade war. The real possibility of an economic downturn caused by tariffs will hurt the entire Canadian economy, as well as raise concerns for firms – like Bell – with investments in significant U.S. assets (e.g. Ziply). Further, U.S. officials have, for many years, issued complaints over Canadian telecommunications and media policies and regulations, deeming them (albeit incorrectly) non-tariff barriers. This includes Canada’s existing foreign ownership rules (meant to preserve domestic ownership over strategic telecommunications resources) and the digital services tax (meant to rebalance tax treatment of large, multinational digital service providers), among others.
The U.S. has also raised complaints with Canadian-content rules, and Canadian television market protections –which, along with French language and Quebec content, are vital to keeping Canadian control of our national broadcast and telecommunications landscape.  We anticipate these, and other important policies and regulations, will be unfairly targeted by proposed “reciprocity” measures announced by the U.S. President just days ago.
Mr. Bibic, these U.S. tariffs and U.S. trade actions pose real danger to Canada, its communications industry, and the workers who build, service and maintain it. As such I am requesting a meeting with you, and all relevant Bell Canada officials, to provide our union a comprehensive assessment of this threat across company operations that affect our members.
Further, and as a part of this dialogue, I would ask that you share with us Bell Canada’s plans to mitigate the economic threat and protect jobs in Canada, as well any contingency plans to cope with tariff threats. I would also like to know what possibilities Bell Canada sees to potentially grow its business, including through rural and remote broadband infrastructure expansion.
It is important that our union understand these plans and have an opportunity to raise questions, so that we can ensure Unifor members are supported in this time of crisis.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to speaking with you as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Lana Payne
National President

Canada’s forestry sector is directly in the crosshairs of U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff strategy. Trump’s recent comment that he is considering additional tariffs on imported Canadian lumber – which would be on top the existing U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs), and the threatened 25% border tariff – clearly demonstrates that Canada’s forestry sector will be a critical flashpoint in the U.S.-instigated trade war.

Even before the current threat of tariffs by the United States on Canada, our country’s forestry sector has been experiencing a perfect storm of repeated and intersecting crises. A combination of economic, environmental, and global challenges continues to destabilize the broader forestry sector, including:

• Lack of access to fibre continues to hamper operations in many regions,
• The impacts of insect kill are still being felt,
• Forest fires were less destructive in 2024 than the previous year, but still bad, and remain a significant annual risk,
• Important conservation efforts continue to complicate long-term planning,
• Generally flat prices are still making companies think twice about investments,
• And new EU regulations could negatively impact the ability of Canadian forest products to be sold in that market and around the world.

At the same time, the softwood lumber crisis continues, with U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs) increasing last year, up to an average of around 15%. Later this year, we expect another review that could again double these softwood duties to around 30%.

Despite these challenges, Canada’s forestry sector is still an important economic and employment engine, especially in smaller, rural communities from coast to coast. In 2022, the forestry sector contributed approximately $33.7 billion to Canada’s economy, which is about 1.2% of the national GDP. The sector generates annual revenues in excess of $87.2 billion and provides 200,000 direct jobs in hundreds of communities across the country.

In 2023, Canada’s forestry exports (including lumber, raw logs, wood chips, manufactured wood products, and pulp and paper) totalled almost $38 billion. Of that, $29.3 billion, or roughly 77%, is exported to the United States.

The U.S. domestic production of softwood lumber is not sufficient to meet the demand from the home-building industry, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders. The U.S. imports about 25% of its total softwood lumber consumption from Canada. 

In other words, along with providing essential wood-based products such as packaging, diapers, hygiene products, paper towels, toilet paper, magazines, and specialty paper, Canadian softwood lumber and engineered wood products are helping the U.S. address its housing crisis. Canadian forestry workers are proud to know their products are helping ordinary Americans rebuild their communities in places like North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helen, and around Los Angeles, which was recently devastated by wildfires.

The U.S. tariff threat poses an existential threat to Canada’s forestry sector. But at the same time, this threat is also a wake-up call for governments and forestry companies in this country. We must work together through this current tariff storm, but we must also look ahead to the transformation of our sector, building a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative forestry industry for future generations.

Unifor’s Forestry Council and its 22,100 members spread across 10 Canadian provinces – who work in a variety of forestry and logging occupations as well as wood product and pulp and paper manufacturing facilities – are committed to defending the Canadian forestry industry to protect jobs, investments and industrial capacity through whatever means necessary.

We will fight to defend and preserve our forests, mills and factories, our tools and machinery, and our forestry-dependent communities. We will work to sustain operations, and ensure they serve Canada’s productive, industrial objectives and ambitions.

We will continue working with federal, provincial and municipal governments to develop economic protection and financial assistance plans, trade diversification strategies, mitigate job losses and enhance income security provisions for all workers. We will lean on our strong collective agreement provisions to ensure Unifor members – and all Canadian forestry workers – can navigate this challenge.

Above all, we will work to end this economic threat that imperils our industry and our broader economy. We will coordinate with like-minded allies, and those willing to stand up for a brighter, more prosperous future of fair trade, good forestry jobs, global solidarity, and mutual respect.

KANATA, ONT. — Unifor members unanimously ratified an agreement with their employer, Best Theratronics, ending their more than nine-month long strike in Kanata, Ont.

“Congratulations to the bargaining committee for making sure members were finally heard and respected,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

“This was a historic strike in Unifor’s books, highlighting the need for tougher labour laws that protect collective bargaining. I’m so proud of these members, and also of the many Unifor locals and community members for being there every night and day on this picket line.”

Unifor members at Local 1541 were on strike since May 1, 2024, while on May 10, members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada also went on strike at Best Theratronics. Unifor and the employer reached a tentative agreement on Feb. 22. Members voted on the new contract today, on Feb. 23.

The new four-year collective agreement brings the strike action to an end, with some members returning to work tomorrow, on Feb. 24. The contract delivers wage increases in each year of the agreement, adding up to 11% in increases.

Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said she is proud of Best Theratronics workers who endured all seasons on the picket line and whose determination to get a fair contract and respect was unwavering.

“This job action was a unified approach with all hands-on-deck from members across the region,” said Hashi. “I want to commend members of Local 1541 for standing strong during these incredibly difficult negotiations.”

Unifor Local 1541 members manufacture medical equipment used in cancer treatments.

“In this dispute, we stood strong and showed that no amount of intimidation will break our solidarity. With the support of our union, we bargained a good collective agreement that recognizes the value of the work we do,” said Unifor Local 1541 President Steve LaBelle.