Ontario Building Fortress Am-Can to Grow the Economy for Am-Can Workers

“The enduring economic partnership between Ontario, Canada and the United States is the envy of the world and now is the time to build and strengthen those close ties,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Working together, we can be the richest, most successful, safest, most secure countries on the planet. Fortress Am-Can will restore the pride of made in the U.S.A., made in Ontario and made in Canada by growing the economy for workers, fuelling North America’s economic growth and reducing dependence on countries like China and Russia that undermine our security and our democratic values.”

The Am-Can Growth Plan will leverage Ontario’s unique advantages to power economic growth, including the province’s historic investments in skills training, clean energy and resource development, along with a competitive business environment. The province has lowered the cost of doing business by $8 billion every year by reducing premiums, cutting taxes and cutting government red tape.

In the face of global uncertainty, the province is working to strengthen trade and investment relationships worldwide. Ontario has been actively engaging with U.S. partners and encouraging them to reject protectionism and champion a “Buy Am-Can” approach to create jobs and opportunities for workers in both countries.

As part of building Fortress Am-Can, Ontario is recommending the following additional measures:

• Continue to attract global investments in the future of automotive and battery production by making Fortress Am-Can the most economically competitive market in the world. This should include aligning and streamlining relevant regulations to promote further integration and cross-border trade and eliminating unfair or anti-competitive taxes, including the digital services tax and the federal carbon tax.
• Agree to free and fair trade in the United States and Canada’s integrated automotive manufacturing sector and set out an ambitious goal of producing one million more Am-Can vehicles each year by 2028.
• Increase steel trade between Canada and the U.S. by 25 per cent by 2028, in support of protecting critical steel jobs and halting the flow of unfairly traded Chinese steel into the Am-Can market.
• Continue to expand agri-food trade between Canada and the U.S. to improve Am-Can food security and reduce our reliance on imports from China and other countries that do not share our high labour and safety standards. This can build on the more than $45 billion in two-way trade between Ontario and the U.S. that was carried out in 2023, including $23.5 billion in U.S. agri-food exports to Ontario.
• Establish cross-border partnerships between post-secondary, industry and union training centres to promote skills development and ongoing expertise for current and emerging strategic sectors that match economic priorities, including building roads, highways and other critical infrastructure, manufacturing chips and vehicles and building the future of energy production and transmission infrastructure.
• Harmonize, recognize and support professional certifications across Am-Can borders to improve access to quality engineers, doctors and other professional services.
• Invest in and grow our integrated rail, road, marine and air networks to enhance the safe, secure and speedy transportation of people, goods and services across Canada and the United States.

“Ontario and the United States share one of the most important and abiding partnerships in the world, built on strong economic ties, highly integrated supply chains and shared values,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “The Am-Can Growth Plan will champion workers on both sides of the border by fostering the conditions for good-paying jobs to be created, while also advancing investment opportunities across key industries. By leveraging our expertise in the manufacturing sector, Ontario remains uniquely positioned to support the re-shoring of America’s supply chains and uphold their national security interests.”

To help America decouple from China, Ontario recently announced proposed measures to enhance and build out the integrated Am-Can energy and electricity grid, including nuclear energy, to encourage more exports of Canadian energy and electricity to the U.S. and by establishing a new Am-Can Critical Mineral Security Alliance that invests in and builds out American and Canadian critical mineral supply chains, including by significantly expanding Am-Can processing capacity. In addition, the province outlined its plan to strengthen security on land, water and in the air along the Canada-U.S. border, including protecting Arctic sovereignty, as a key component of Fortress Am-Can.

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