Mark Carney and Doug Ford announced on Wednesday in Ottawa an $8.7 billion Canadian federal-provincial package for steel, critical minerals and autos. The Ontario premier said the deal should protect workers from tariffs and open jobs. It is a package announcement. The money has not been transferred. U.S. tariffs do not disappear.

CBC writes that, of the total, $2.5 billion over two years goes to the province’s auto industry for connected and electric vehicles: $1.5 billion from Ottawa, $1 billion from Ontario. Carney spoke of an integrated North American sector, then said the current U.S. administration does not share those aims. “Their approach has changed, and so must ours.”

The PMO release also details steel: a Joint Steel Action Fund over five years, $3.55 billion from Ottawa and $1.67 billion from Ontario. Ottawa also says it will match, over three years, up to $1 billion from the province for a road to the Ring of Fire. A matching pledge, not a finished road. Mine permits, Carney said, have historically taken more than 15 years; they now promise a coordinated process. That is not an open mine.

Emissions standards for new light-duty vehicles stay at 2026 levels through the 2029 model year; annual increases resume in 2030. The PMO ties the pause to the 2035 electric-vehicle target, not to cancelling it. Mélanie Joly said on Wednesday that producers are hit both by tariffs and by the American rollback on greenhouse gases. Washington’s rollback is context. Ottawa’s package is a separate act.

Carney spoke of protecting up to 290,000 jobs in the province. That is his figure, not a tally of new hires. Ford spoke of trade uncertainty in every corner of Ontario. Trump’s August threat of 50% from 1 January on cars and steel remains a threat. The United States already applies 25% to finished vehicles and to parts that do not meet CUSMA. The package does not lift them.

Source consulted: Carney, Ford announce nearly $9B partnership to support steel, auto, critical mineral sectors — CBC.

Image: Parliament Hill, Ottawa, 23 October 2017, Louie Luo, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The Hill, not Wednesday’s announcement.

Sources consulted: Prime Minister Carney and Premier Ford launch new action plan — PMO.