Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister announcing actions to protect and create good-paying jobs for Canadian workers

October 22, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario

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Thanks everyone for being here. I want to start by recognizing the work that all the people at Parliamentary Protective Services do to make it possible for all of us to do our jobs. On this anniversary of the death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was shot to death while he was guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it’s worth reflecting on how essential they are. They take risks every day. Thank you very much to them.

I will begin by talking about the Canadian economy, and then I’ll talk about actions we are taking to protect and support Canadian workers, and tariffs, and then new measures on artificial intelligence.

After that, my colleague, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages), will talk about reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. After that, my colleague, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Public Services and Procurement), will talk more about what we are doing regarding artificial intelligence and promoting its adoption in the whole Canadian economy.  

Let me start by making a couple of comments about the Canadian economy.

We have been getting some good news in recent weeks. Last week, we got the September inflation number, which was 1.6 per cent. For nine months now, inflation in Canada has been within the Bank of Canada’s target range. And the September number was a three and a half year low.

With inflation coming down, we have now seen three interest rate cuts. The Bank of Canada was the first central bank in a G7 country to cut interest rates for the first time. It was the first central bank in a G7 country to cut interest rates for the second time. And it was the first central bank in a G7 country to cut interest rates for the third time.

Wages have now outpaced inflation for 20 months in a row and in September, we had a good jobs number, with 47,000 jobs created. And the unemployment number actually went down a little bit.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its World Economic Outlook today. And in that Outlook, the IMF forecasted that Canada will have the strongest economic growth in the G7 in 2025. There is a lot more we need to do, but on the macroeconomic front, we’re seeing some solid progress.

Now, I want to talk about the tariff measures. The government has imposed a 100 per cent tariff on all electric vehicles manufactured in China and it became effective on October 1st. 

We also announced that we would put in place a 25 per cent tariff on imports of steel and aluminum products from China. Today is a significant day. Today is the day that our tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum of 25 per cent enter into force. This is a really important measure. It is to protect these essential Canadian industries, and the Canadians who work there, from unfair Chinese trade practices, and from an intentional policy of Chinese overcapacity in an environment where neither labour nor environmental standards are honoured.

It's also really important because it is absolutely essential for the Canadian economy that we can say to our partners in North America that Canada will not be a backdoor for diverted Chinese goods, whether it’s electric vehicles or steel and aluminum.

We are also announcing today a remissions framework. We know that there are some businesses that are anxious about adjusting to this shift in supply chains. It’s really important for us that these essential measures do not harm Canadian businesses or Canadian workers. So, we are prepared to offer tariff relief in exceptional circumstances and we’re publishing today an email address that Canadian businesses can use to apply for tariff relief and a framework that will guide decisions on remissions.

A second announcement for today is that we are moving forward on the support for AI and AI adoption, which we announced in the budget in the spring.

Canada is a global AI superpower. There is no better evidence of this than the fact that Canada’s own, and the University of Toronto’s own, Geoffrey Hinton, was recently awarded a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research. That research, that Canadian strength in AI, and the underlying thinking behind it, is a huge advantage for Canada in the economy today.

Our government knows that helping Canadian businesses adopt AI is a really important part of leveraging the Canadian AI advantage.

Today we are announcing that we’re going to be investing $300 million of the $2.4 billion for AI that we put forward in the budget in the spring.

We’re launching a $200 million regional AI initiative. The regional development agencies will help support AI start-ups to bring new technology to market. And they will help drive AI adoption by Canadian businesses across the economy. I do want to say to Canadian businesses who are excited about the benefits of AI in their businesses, please think about using a Canadian AI company when you are using AI in your business. This is a great strength we have; take advantage of the great AI companies we have here at home.

We have an economic plan, a plan for affordability, to build more housing faster and for economic growth. Our priority is to give a fair chance to every generation. Thank you.