Michael Guglielmin: Canada must create more attractive business conditions to compete with the U.S.

Canadian and American flags fly across the border on the Gordie Howe International bridge that connects Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich., on Sept. 6, 2026. Janice MacKinnon and Jack Mintz write that it's time for Canada to get back to the negotiating table to hammer out a new trade agreement with the U.S. Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images

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Sir Wilfrid Laurier understood something fundamental about competing with the United States: Canada cannot win by matching America’s size or resources. We win by being more competitive. He believed the burdens of government, taxes and regulation had to be kept lighter here than south of the border to attract investment, industry and people.

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More than a century later, that wisdom feels painfully relevant. The collapse of trade talks with the United States has left our steel and manufacturing sectors in limbo. Lingering high tariffs, retaliatory measures and a cloud of uncertainty are hanging over businesses that form the backbone of Ontario, Quebec and other provinces.

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Many of the structural problems facing Canadian industry predate U.S. President Donald Trump. Canada entered this trade fight with too little economic room to manoeuvre. Years of weak investment, regulatory accumulation and an uncompetitive tax environment have rendered Canadian manufacturers more vulnerable to decisions made in Washington.

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The Steel industry supports roughly 23,000 direct jobs, with indirect jobs adding another 100,000 or so, according to the Steel Producers Association. Manufacturing as a whole employs over 1.5 million Canadians. Behind these numbers are families, communities and livelihoods. When a mill in Hamilton or Sault Ste. Marie slows down, the pain ripples through the supply chain, affecting everyone from truckers to office furniture manufacturers.

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Prior to entering politics, I spent over 20 years in the steel industry working alongside the men and women who make up the backbone of the Canadian economy. Canadians in these industries don’t live in the same world or face the same pressures as many in the political and commentariat class. For those operating businesses in industries facing the prospects of a trade war, it invokes anxiety about making payroll next month and keeping their workers who have families to feed employed.

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To be clear, Canada certainly cannot accept terms of a trade deal with the United States that hollows out our industrial capacity, threatens our sovereignty, or treats Canadian producers as second-class suppliers in our own integrated market. But pretending the pain is shared equally on both sides of the border is a fantasy. American consumers and manufacturers will feel some pressure as inputs and prices rise, while Canada’s smaller, export-dependent economy takes the harder hit.

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Our integrated supply chains, built over decades under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement were never designed for this kind of friction. What these sectors need most right now is clarity. Businesses can survive tough conditions if they can plan. When they know the rules of the game, they can budget, invest in equipment and hire. Prolonged uncertainty is a silent killer. It freezes capital expenditure, delays expansions and makes business owners and investors hesitate to take on the very risks that create jobs and lead to long-term growth.