‘Canadian workers should not pay the price for American trade aggression’
Unifor is urging the federal government to immediately activate and strengthen the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) to prevent Canadian employers from relocating jobs offshore in response to escalating U.S. trade measures.
“Canadian workers should not pay the price for American trade aggression,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
In a letter dated May 16 to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Payne warned of growing job insecurity tied to what the union describes as a “provoked and unjust trade war” initiated by the United States. Citing recent examples of manufacturing plants shuttering operations and relocating production to avoid U.S. tariffs, Payne called for Ottawa to adopt a more aggressive stance to deter corporate offshoring.
“Further aggressive and defensive action must be taken to solidify Canada’s industrial economy,” she wrote. She stressed that the ongoing impact of American protectionist policies is already being felt through investment delays, temporary layoffs, and plant closures in the auto, steel, aluminium, and forestry sectors.
Previously, automobile manufacturer Stellantis announced it is laying off thousands of workers in Canada following the U.S. government’s decision to impose tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles.
The 25% tariff on imported vehicles imposed by United States President Donald Trump on Canada will cause layoffs, one expert previously warned.
Payne called on the federal government to leverage existing statutory powers under FEMA to issue blocking orders prohibiting compliance with foreign laws or directives that are counter to Canadian interests. These orders, she noted, could make it a federal offence for corporations to shift production out of Canada in response to foreign trade measures.
Currently, FEMA permits penalties of up to $1.5 million for corporations and up to five years’ imprisonment for individuals found in violation. However, Payne emphasised the need for legislative amendments to strengthen FEMA’s enforcement provisions and ensure its effectiveness.
“This is not a call for new legislation, but rather a call for government to demonstrate its political will,” she wrote.
Unifor also proposed several enhancements to be introduced when Parliament resumes, including:
These tools, the union argues, would not only deter corporate flight but also reinforce Canada’s economic sovereignty.
“We need to stop rewarding companies that gut our communities and undermine our economy,” said Payne. “This is about protecting good Canadian jobs and defending our sovereignty.”
Previously, Ontario announced it was committing $11 billion to support employers and workers in the face of mounting U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.
Meanwhile, Unifor criticised companies that benefit from the Canadian market but then choose to “abandon their responsibilities to our workforce and communities when it is convenient.”
“The consequences for offshoring jobs must be real, enforceable, and immediate,” Payne wrote. “If you do business here in Canada, you must also invest in the people and communities that make that business possible.”
FEMA is “an act to authorize the making of orders relating to the production of records and the giving of information for the purposes of proceedings in foreign tribunals, relating to measures of foreign states or foreign tribunals affecting international trade or commerce and in respect of the recognition and enforcement in Canada of certain foreign judgments”.
Human Resources Director has not seen any response from the federal government to Unifor’s message.
However, Ottawa has previously utilized FEMA to protect Canadian interests. For instance, in 2015, the government issued an order under FEMA to counteract the application of U.S. Buy America provisions on a project at the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to prevent compliance with foreign laws that were deemed contrary to Canadian interests.
