The unjust trade war initiated by the United States poses a clear threat to Canadian jobs and Canadian sovereignty. Unifor continues to call for all levels of government, as well as representatives from all industries, to employ all measures necessary to fight back and take sustained action  as tariffs persist.

While some industries are more heavily impacted than others through direct trade activity, the tariffs pose an economy-wide threat to Canada.

Canadian workers are rightfully concerned that a sustained trade war will cause widespread job loss and economic hardship for families across the country.

Supporting Canadian workers

Canada needs to be prepared for the potential economic impacts of a sustained trade war by strengthening social supports for working people. This includes:

• The federal government providing additional income supports for workers affected by tariffs, like measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes improved access to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits or other income assistance programs with more accessible qualifying rules, enhanced income support, longer duration, and allowances for workers to earn supplementary income or pursue education while receiving support.
• The federal government following through on the promise to implement a universal pharmacare program to provide coverage for essential medications for all Canadians, regardless of income.
• The federal government working together with each provincial and territorial government to ensure that the $10/day childcare program is a success and that there is a balanced and equitable rollout of the program across the country.
• Governments making permanent improvements – including assistance rates, eligibility criteria, and minimizing claw backs – to provincial and territorial income assistance programs.

Canada’s competitive advantage

Some Canadian manufacturing facilities have closed and relocated production to avoid U.S. tariffs.

Investment delays and temporary layoffs continue to impact  a number of Canadian industries. These are short-sighted decisions that overlook  the competitive advantages of investing in Canada.

Canada’s strong public services are among the keys elements that give the nation a competitive advantage, especially when compared to the United States. Canada’s health and social services programs, including its public health system, dental care plan, and pharmacare program, provide free or significantly reduced services to Canadians, as opposed to private employer-paid health plans or out-of-pocket costs incurred in the United States. Other social programs – including $10/day childcare, income assistance programs, and government-funded services provided by social service agencies – provide integral support for Canadian workers and their families.

Canada’s strong public education system is highly regarded internationally and serves as an important equalizer, narrowing the gap in outcomes between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Federal and provincial/territorial governments continue to play a significant role in funding post-secondary institutions, enabling the knowledge and skills that drive the Canadian economy.

Canada’s robust public service sector is a significant incentive for companies to keep their operations in–and move their operations to–Canada.

These public programs offer real advantages to companies by reducing health care costs, improving overall employee well-being, and attracting skilled workers seeking a stronger social safety net to support their families.

About the Health Care, Education & Social Services Sectors

Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, with more than 320,000 members across the country, working in every major sector of the Canadian economy.

Unifor represents approximately 44,000 members in the health care, education and social services sectors. Unifor members work in hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, home care, health clinics, paramedic services, school boards, universities, colleges, and a diversity of social services.

Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 50% tariff on copper imports into the U.S.—if applied to Canada—would be a direct attack on Canadian workers and another reckless move that threatens jobs, industries, and entire communities across the country.

The proposed tariff stems from a Section 232 investigation into whether copper imports pose a national security risk to the United States. This process is being used to justify extreme trade measures without legitimate cause. There is no credible evidence that Canadian copper threatens U.S. security.

The imposition of steep, punitive tariffs under this pretense is not legitimate trade policy, it’s economic aggression.

Canada’s copper industry is a key pillar of the national economy. In 2023, exports of copper and copper-based products were valued at more than $9 billion, with over half going to the United States.

Jobs in mining, smelting, refining, and recycling are on the line—from British Columbia and Ontario to Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canadian workers have already borne the brunt of politically motivated U.S. trade actions on autos, steel and aluminum. Copper must not be next.

Should copper tariffs be applied to Canada, Unifor is calling on the federal government to respond swiftly and forcefully. No Canadian jobs must be sacrificed as negotiations toward a new trade agreement with the U.S. continue.

Canada must defend its workers and industries, respond with appropriate retaliation if these punitive tariffs move forward, and demand the removal of those already in place.

Unifor will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as further details become available.

TORONTO—Unifor Members at DHL Express Canada have ratified a new four-year agreement by 72%, officially ending a lockout and strike lasting nearly three weeks in locations across the country.

“I am so proud of all the members of the national bargaining committee for standing strong and fighting for the respect they deserved,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

“This is a historic dispute in our union’s books because we were the test case for the new anti-scab legislation and our union and members stood tall, held strong, and the end result is we got a fair collective agreement.”

DHL workers will return to work after the ratification, however, there is no definite timeline. The union thanks the public for its patience as our members resolve the backlog of packages and deliveries.

The new contract features a 15.75% increase in wages throughout the life of the contract, a new payment structure for owner-operators, pension increases for hourly workers and a new pension for owner-operators.

In addition, there are increases to short and long-term disability payments, new mental health benefit, increases to severance, wage adjustments and much-desired language around AI, robotics and automatic, and improved work-from-home language.

Unifor members at DHL Express Canada were locked out after midnight on June 8 and subsequently went on strike hours later.

This dispute underscored the importance of federal anti-scab legislation, hard fought for by Unifor, which came into effect during this dispute.

It marked a historic moment for Unifor as this dispute became the first test case under the new law, with our members standing firm to ensure companies were not above it.

“This was a critical moment for the labour movement across Canada. The determination of our members in Quebec and across the country has sent a clear message: the anti-scab law must be respected, and workers will no longer tolerate being sidelined,” said Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier.

Unifor represents over 2,100 DHL Express Canada workers who as truck drivers, couriers, warehouse and clerical workers across Canada, at Locals 114 in British Columbia, 700 in Quebec, 755 in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 4005 in Nova Scotia, 4457 in Ontario and members in DHL Alberta.