Ottawa will pay half the shipping cost to move Canadian steel across the country
The federal government has launched a $100-million program that pays back half the cost of shipping Canadian steel from one province to another, effective immediately.
The program comes as Canadian steel faces a 50-per-cent tariff, a kind of tax, when exported to the United States. That tariff makes it much harder for Canadian steel companies to sell south of the border.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the program at a news conference in Hamilton, Ontario, on August 10, 2026. He was joined by Ron Bedard, president and CEO of ArcelorMittal Dofasco, who also chairs the Canadian Steel Producers Association. The Globe and Mail
The rebate covers 50 per cent of eligible rail or marine transportation costs for Canadian steel moving between provinces and territories. It runs for up to one year or until the $100-million fund runs out, whichever comes first. Transport Canada
The program's goal is to encourage more Canadian steel to be bought and sold within Canada. Right now, Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. face a 50-per-cent tariff. The rebate is designed to make it cheaper to ship steel to buyers in other provinces, where the cost of moving goods long distances has historically made domestic sales less competitive. The Globe and Mail
The announcement coincided with diplomatic activity in Washington. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc was in the U.S. capital for talks aimed at negotiating changes to U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and other products. Janice Charette serves as Canada's chief negotiator in those trade discussions with U.S. officials. The Globe and Mail
The timeline for those talks is tight. U.S. President Donald Trump has set August 19 as a deadline to impose new 50-per-cent tariffs on US$20-billion worth of Canadian goods, adding urgency to the negotiations LeBlanc and Charette are conducting. The Globe and Mail
The August 10 launch builds on measures the federal government signalled in late 2025. Ottawa had previously committed to working with railway companies to cut freight rates for interprovincial steel and lumber shipments by 50 per cent, beginning in spring 2026. The Treasury Board earmarked more than $100 million over two years, starting in 2025-2026, to support eligible employers in the steel and lumber industries. Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Transport Canada had signalled the August 10 announcement with a media advisory published August 7, indicating MacKinnon would announce measures to strengthen interprovincial trade of Canadian steel. Transport Canada
BNN Bloomberg independently confirmed the government's announcement, reporting that the rebate plan reimburses manufacturers for half the freight costs of shipping Canadian-made steel and covers qualifying steel shipped by rail, aimed at strengthening domestic supply chains. BNN Bloomberg
The official government press release was published on Transport Canada's canada.ca news page under the title "Government of Canada strengthens Canada's steel industry through stronger interprovincial trade." Transport Canada
The broader context here is that the federal government is working on two things at once. One is diplomatic: LeBlanc and Charette are trying to get the U.S. to reduce or modify the existing 50-per-cent tariff before the August 19 deadline for a further round of duties. The other is domestic: the rebate program, which makes it cheaper to ship steel within Canada by covering half the freight cost.
For the steel industry, the rebate lowers a real cost barrier. Shipping steel by rail across Canada covers large distances, and freight makes up a significant portion of the final price. Covering half that cost directly improves the financial return for producers selling into provinces other than their own. The $100-million cap means the program's duration depends on how many companies use it: if claims run high, the fund could be exhausted well before the one-year limit.
The parallel timing of the Hamilton announcement and LeBlanc's Washington talks is notable. The rebate program is running now, regardless of what the bilateral negotiations produce. If those talks yield tariff relief, Canadian steel regains some access to the U.S. market. If they do not, the rebate stands as a domestic measure to offset at least part of the lost export opportunity by making interprovincial sales cheaper. Either way, the program is live and the clock is running on both the fund and the August 19 tariff deadline.
