February 20, 2026
The Empire Club of Canada Presents
Ontario at a Crossroads: Competitiveness, Confidence & Growth in a New Global Reality
Chairman: Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Rita Trichur, Senior Business Writer & Columnist for the Report on Business
Panellists
Ron Bedard, President & CEO, ArcelorMittal Dofasco
Jennifer McLeod Macey, Senior Vice President, Leger
Gabriella Siciliano, Vice-President, Operations & Director, Marketing & Communications, Invest Ontario
Distinguished Guest Speakers
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Industry
Daniel Tisch, President & CEO, OCC
Head Table Guests
Shane Reid, Vice-President, Product & Marketing, Medavie Blue Cross
Welcome Address by Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Welcome. Bienvenue. I’m Saurabh Popat, chair of the Empire Club Board of Directors, and your host for today’s event.
To formally begin, I’d like to acknowledge that we are gathering on the Traditional and Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. I encourage you all to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
Now, today’s event would not be possible without the generous and incredible support of our sponsors. The Empire Club is a non-profit organization, and our sponsors generously support the club, and make these events possible and complimentary for our online viewers to attend. So, please join me in thanking our Lead Sponsor for today’s event, Medavie Blue Cross. Thank you. Thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsors, Cogeco and Waste Connections of Canada. Thank you. And to our Supporting Sponsors, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Ontario, and Workplace Safety and Prevention Services. Thank you. We also deeply appreciate the ongoing support of our Lead Season Sponsors, Bruce Power, Hydro One, and National Bank Capital Markets, and our VIP Reception Season Sponsors, Ellis Don, McKinsey & Company, the Ontario Road Builders Association, and Waste Connections of Canada. Thank you. And finally, thank you to our Media Partner, the Toronto Star, and our AV Partner, Bespoke Audio Visual.
If you have questions for our speakers, please scan the QR code found on your program or through the Q&A function, if you’re online.
Welcome to this important conversation, or really, two conversations today. First, we launch the 10th Ontario Chamber of Commerce Economic Report, and then we unpack what it means for our province in a rapidly shifting global economy. Now, there’s no denying that trying to navigate the turbulent headwinds and choppy geopolitical waters are very, very challenging. Global powers are reshaping the political alliances that created post-war stability. Governments are upending or redefining long-standing trade relationships. And companies are planning and working through this turbulence and business uncertainty by redesigning supply chains to prioritize resilience over efficiency. Investors are certainly moving carefully, and confidence is fragile, but we remain hopeful.
And through this uncertainty, businesses across our province are asking some foundational questions. How do we stay competitive? How do we attract investment? And where will new growth come from? Ontario is Canada’s economic engine. Manufacturing, advanced technology, critical minerals, automotive innovation, clean energy, each of these sectors now competes in a more strategic and less predictable global marketplace.
As the Prime Minister has said, though, nostalgia is not a strategy. And today, Minister Mélanie Joly is here to talk about that new strategy, and her message is one about economic sovereignty. As she puts it, government must make the federal government a customer, not just a booster of Canadian industry. Through the Buy Canadian policy, for example, federal contracts over $25 million now prioritize Canadian materials. And confidence doesn’t appear on its own. It comes from clarity, it comes from credible data, and it comes from leadership. That’s why for 10 years, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has tracked business sentiment, regional economic projections, and policy priorities. The Ontario Economic Report reflects what employers are actually experiencing on the ground. As CUSMA renegotiations approach and global competition intensifies, this year’s report helps to ground the conversation in evidence. And we’re very fortunate to have the leader behind the report and the OCC here today, the President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Daniel Tisch. Welcome, Daniel.
Before we jump to the report, today’s event is made possible through the support, as I mentioned, of our Lead Sponsor, Medavie Blue Cross. Now, at a time when employers are balancing competitiveness, talent retention, and cost pressures, Medavie Blue Cross plays a critical role in supporting organizations and employees across our province and across our country. It’s now my pleasure to welcome Shane Reid, Vice-President, Product and Marketing at Medavie Blue Cross to say a few words. Shane?
Opening Remarks by Shane Reid, Vice-President, Product & Marketing, Medavie Blue Cross
Thank you. So, it’s a pleasure to be here today and discuss the launch of this year’s Ontario Economic Report and while it’s important to pause and take stock of where we are and where we’re headed, it’s exceptionally important in today’s current climate. We’re living in a world where uncertainty seems to outpace stability, global unrest, economic strain, rising cost of living, and of particular importance to Medavie, tackling new health realities and an urgency to reimagine the future of care for Canada. The conversations I’ve had this morning with many of you have had one thing abundantly clear. You are deeply invested in addressing the challenges ahead, uncovering the opportunities within, and driving innovative solutions that serve both, all reflecting a deep commitment to work collectively to strengthen Ontario’s economic and social fabric.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a little bit about Medavie and our effect and impact in the province. We have over 980 colleagues working across Ontario within our insurance, emergency medical services, and clinic divisions. Each one of our members are tangibly contributing to the healthcare of a more resilient Ontario. Medavie Blue Cross, we provide coverage for over 770,000 Ontarians. We continue expanding our presence, demonstrating both the strengths of this province, but also, our commitment to serve here. Many of you represent some of Ontario’s largest employers. And you’re probably seeing the same shift that we are, where benefits are moving from a back office cost to more of a frontline competitive strategy. In a tight talent market, meaningful benefits are no longer viewed as a perk. Rather, they are how employers attract and retain key talent.
Beyond insurance, our health services teams make a meaningful impact every single day. Last year alone, our paramedic and integrated health teams responded to tens of thousands of emergency, inter-facility, and community care calls, supporting people across Elgin, Perth County, Lennox and Addington, and [Indiscernible]. Programs like Mobile Care, which has served more than 1,100 clients through a travelling clinic model, or Pathway to Care, which helps individuals transition from a hospital to a community base in a safe way. These reflect our belief that good health is foundational to strong communities. We’re also deeply committed to reinvesting in where we live and where we serve. Through the Medavie Foundation, we’ve invested more than $109 million in Ontario communities since 2011, supporting mental health, trauma-informed training for first responders, cardiac rehabilitation, and innovative community health initiatives. This work is grounded in our purpose as a social enterprise, reinvesting where it matters most. Combined, these efforts contribute to both the health and the financial prosperity of our province, higher participation, better productivity, and more predictable labour capacity for Ontario employers. What’s good for the health of our province is good for the economy of our province.
As we look to the insights in this year’s Ontario Economic Report, we do so with a strong sense of commitment and determination. We know the challenges and opportunities facing Ontario businesses are interconnected with the health and wellbeing of its people and its communities. And that is exactly where Medavie wants to continue on making an impact.
Without further ado, I do have the honour of introducing a leader who has long championed collaboration, evidence-based decisions, and a voice of Ontario businesses. A respected business and public leader with deep experience in corporate communications, public engagement, and reputational management. Daniel Kish, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, has brought clarity and purpose to the Chamber’s work. His leadership ensures that conversations like today are grounded, and forward-looking, and focused on what Ontario needs to compete, adapt, and thrive.
Before joining the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, he spent two decades building Argyle Communications into one of Canada’s leading independent advisory firms. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles within the Government of Canada, including serving as policy advisor and active chief-of-staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. And beyond his professional leadership, Daniel has taught at Queen University for nearly three decades, is a trusted media commentator, and has held governance roles with major public institutions and community organizations. He holds degrees in political studies and business administration, an ICDD designation in corporate governance, and was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contributions to community and country. Our team at Medavie is thrilled to support today’s event and to stand alongside the Chamber in building a stronger, healthier Ontario. Please join me, in welcoming Daniel Tisch.
Daniel Tisch, President & CEO, OCC
Well, thank you so much, Shane, not just for the introduction, but for your leadership in Ontario’s business community, which we deeply appreciate. Because you know what? This leadership, right now, it matters so much. I’d argue it matters more than ever before. And that is really the imperative that we face today as a nation, as a province, and as a business community, as we launch the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s 10th Annual Ontario Economic Report today. It brings together, as it always does, our business confidence survey, our economic analysis, and our key recommendations for Ontario’s future. And you’ll find a QR code to link to the report, right there in your event program. And I’m so grateful to our presenting partners at Bruce Power, our research partners at Léger, and BMO, and our co-host today, of course, the Empire Club of Canada. And finally, I am grateful, so grateful, for our leaders across the Ontario Chamber network. We represent together 150 local chambers, and together we represent 60,000 businesses. That’s businesses of every size, of every sector of the economy, and every community in our province. And together, our shared mission is to convene and mobilize, and empower businesses and local chambers to lead positive change, because that is something that none of us can do alone.
So, last week, I had a moment that kind of summed up the last year. So, for the last quarter century, I’ve led a scout group on Monday nights. And it was 9 p.m., and we had just wrapped up a terrific evening where we were learning about food insecurity in our community. And after I dismissed the group, I was leaving the building and I checked my phone, only to see a text message from a journalist. And literally it said, “Sorry to bug you so late. Any chance of a brief statement about Trump’s latest insanity?” And so, I then said those words that have been spoken by so many Canadians so many times in the last year. Oh my God, what’s he done now? Let’s do a little group therapy here, folks, right? It was the evening he had threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge. Never mind that in the words of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, “This is the most consequential infrastructure project in the state and region in this generation.” Never mind that it was pivotal to the U.S. auto industry, to agriculture, tourism, and so many other sectors. Never mind that in 2017, Trump himself had called it a vital economic link between our two countries. It was the latest twist in a trade psychodrama that’s caused such severe harm to businesses and workers and communities in both of our countries. Tariffs are driving up costs for both businesses and consumers, something we saw in a study just last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And second, the threat, even the threat of tariffs, creates uncertainty and uncertainty creates inertia.
So tell me, we’ve got a lot of very smart business people in the room. As a business person, what do you do when you don’t know what your costs are gonna be tomorrow? Well, the report tells us. You don’t spend, you don’t invest, and you don’t hire. And that’s what we see in the economic data, and we see it as well in the perspectives of Ontario businesses. They’re investing less in expansion. They’re delaying capital projects. They’re slow to adopt new technology. They’re restructuring their supply chains, and they face a really grim choice between squeezing their margins or squeezing their customers. And as a result, Ontario’s economy, our productivity remains stagnant. Unemployment at 7.6% is among the highest in Canada. Regional disparities are widening, and we continue to struggle with housing and affordability and public health challenges on the streets of our communities.
So, it’s not surprising, given the picture I’ve just painted, that when we asked Ontario businesses, are you confident in the economy? Only 23% say yes. And among small businesses, it’s even lower. It’s just 20%. It’s also no surprise that the confidence is lowest in trade-exposed regions. Windsor and Sarnia, Hamilton and Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie. They’re feeling the pain of tariffs and supply chain shocks really deeply.
What’s hindering confidence? Five things. Affordability, rising costs for inputs, operations, labour, and housing, trade and supply chain barriers and that uncertainty I spoke about, labour shortages in growth industries and regions, and finally, regional infrastructure gaps. I kind of feel like I’m bringing you down. I don’t want to cause indigestion after such a tasty lunch, folks. So, do you want some better news? Anybody want some better news? All right, okay, let’s get some better news. Okay, first, the sky isn’t falling. While only 23% of businesses are confident in the economy, that’s only down slightly from last year. Last year, it was 26%. And it’s actually much higher than two years ago, when we were still struggling with post-pandemic inflation. And while it’s been a hard year, we’ve actually done better than many expected a year ago when the tariff shocks began. The economy didn’t shrink, it grew. Unemployment didn’t skyrocket, it stabilized.
And while there’s severe pain in some sectors, automotive, steel, lumber, aluminum, copper, most of our trade has been insulated by the Canada-US-Mexico agreement. Only 25% of firms this year report having labour shortages, and that’s the lowest number we’ve seen in our report since the pandemic, although it is uneven across economic sectors and regions. Here’s an interesting one. Almost 50% of firms now have diversity and inclusion strategies, right? That’s up—yeah, we can applaud that. So, despite what we hear, you know, about this backlash, right, that is up 2% from a year ago. That is up 7% from two years ago. And what that says to me is that Ontario businesses understand that diversity and inclusion is not about subverting merit, it is about enabling merit to be seen.
And here’s the biggest silver lining of all. Even if most businesses aren’t confident in the economy, a majority of them are confident in the prospects for their own business. And that is actually 3% higher than a year ago. So, while they’re not confident in the economy, they’re confident in themselves, in their resilience, in their ability to adapt and innovate and to grow. What we heard earlier, nostalgia’s not a growth strategy. Well, resilience isn’t a growth strategy either. It’s time to move, that’s what we say, that’s why we say it’s time to move from resilience to renovation.
And last month in Davos, Prime Minister Carney captured global attention by stating something that everyone knew but few would say, that there’s been a rupture in the world order. Now, he’s right about the rupture. I’m not prepared to say it’s necessarily irreparable or gone forever. Certainly, when I speak, as I do frequently, to our US partners, the business and political support for free trade with Canada, and I should say for multilateral economic and security alliances, it remains incredibly strong. And I still hope wiser heads will prevail. But I think the reason the Prime Minister’s speech was so important is that, in some ways, we have to prepare for the worst while never giving up on the best. We have to strengthen our competitiveness and our self-reliance. We have to diversify our trading relationships, all the while maintaining an extended hand to our largest trading partners.
And that is the message I hear again and again in the last year from business leaders. We never want to be this vulnerable again. And that’s why it’s time for Ontario and Canada to replace dependence with diversification, to replace complacency with competitiveness. As I said a year ago on this stage, if the world’s gonna get tough, Canada better get buff. The question is whether we can. And looking at the data, looking at our recommendations, which you’ll also find in the report, our answer at the Ontario Chamber is yes we can, but it’s yes if. Yes, if we attract and reward private investment. We need businesses not just to start here, but to stay here and to scale here. And you know what? They want to. We actually asked businesses for the first time this year, with this part of our partnership with Invest Ontario, we asked them, we asked businesses headquartered outside Ontario with operations here, do you want to expand here? 49% said yes. That’s 4% more than want to expand in the US. But we have to address their concerns. The cost of doing business, market access gaps, and the availability of skilled talent. Yes, if we invest in people and skills.
I was so proud last week to stand on the stage at Queen’s Park with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Colleges and Universities, as they announced a $6.4 billion investment in long-term funding for post-secondary education. We’ve fought hard for that in partnership with colleges, universities, and Indigenous institutes across Ontario’s and the voices of our local chambers were so essential. But we still have more to do, right? AI is changing the game, we know that. It’s creating an urgency to upskill and reskill workers and to give young people, more young people, the advantage of work-integrated learning. We still have labour market gaps. That means expanding labour mobility, aligning immigration and credential recognition with industrial and regional needs.
To compete, we need all of Ontario’s talent off the bench and in the game. Yes, if we move fast to build the infrastructure that moves our goods and people and dismantle the barriers, once and for all, to enter provincial trade. Yes, if we unlock our natural resources while reducing our emissions to become more competitive. Yes, if we make our communities healthier, if we revitalize our downtowns, if we address the interconnected challenges of mental health, and addictions, and homelessness. Yes, if we ensure opportunity for Indigenous people, nations and communities among the youngest and fastest growing talent pools in our country. I believe we can do all of these things.
Now, President Trump thinks differently. He thinks we should be more obedient. What was the word he used in Davos? More grateful, right? I think Canada should be more grateful, okay? Right? I watched your Prime Minister, he wasn’t so grateful. You should be grateful, Canada, but you’re not. You know what? We are grateful for the wake-up call, Mr. President. We’re grateful for that wake-up call. We’re grateful for the wake-up call which we must now turn into a call to action. We are grateful for leaders who understand that businesses want fewer barriers to trade, not more. We believe in leaders who tell us and understand that trade won’t work for any nation or any business that believes deals are about one side winning and one side losing, and that our greatest and most sustainable and most inclusive prosperity comes when both commerce and talent can move in freedom.
We’re grateful for a province and a country that’s focused on attracting global talent, not repelling it, and for business leaders who understand that diverse and inclusive and equitable organizations create competitive advantage. We’re grateful to live in a land where science and data and truth still matter more than political narratives, and where our values tell us that agreements must be kept, sovereignty must be respected, multilateralism has meaning, and alliances make us stronger. And we’re grateful to have a nation where party leaders can work together at moments of national crisis, and literally hold hands at moments of national grief.
So, we can do this. And I believe that, and I think by being here, that many, if not most of you do too. And I thank you for your belief in Ontario and in Canada. I thank you for your investment and your involvement in our business community, and I thank you for sharing my conviction that together, we can go so much further and achieve so much more than any of us could alone. Thank you so very much.
So, it’s my great pleasure to introduce a minister who is playing a central role in shaping Canada’s economic and its international agenda. And that, of course, is the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Québec regions. She was first elected in 2015, and she’s served since then in multiple portfolios, Canadian Heritage, Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Economic Development, and of course, the last time we met with her last year as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development. She’s helped build Canada’s tourism brand, she’s launched regional development agencies, and she has led the first major reforms to official languages in 30 years. Most recently, she’s guided Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our Arctic foreign policy, and our Indo-Pacific strategy. She is a lawyer by profession and a reformer at heart, and she brings to this stage a deep understanding of how diplomacy and industrial policy and regional development come together to shape prosperity. So, please join me in welcoming Canada’s Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Industry
Thank you. Thank you, Dan. Great acting skills, just like I told you. Please, no expectation from me regarding any form of mimicking of the president. Thank you. There are too many reporters from the Globe and Mail. So, it’s a pleasure to be back in Toronto. I’ve been here many times over the past few weeks. But the last time I came in the fall, I had the chance to present our plan to really make sure that we would be even a stronger industrial footprint, and a stronger industrial growth. So, that was five months ago, when I had the chance to present that.
And when you think about it—and obviously, Dan just alluded to it—geopolitics has not gone better since then. Think of only what happened in January, and what were the decisions taken by the White House. You know, you were referring to, also, what happened with the latest tweet, and the Gordie Howe Bridge. The week before, I was dealing with the impacts on Bombardier, and the aerospace sector. So, we’ve been dealing with this. We know that this will continue to be the case.
But what also happened in January was also the prime minister’s speech in Davos. And in that speech, it was really a call to action for middle powers to join together to counter political hegemony, American protectionism, and also big tech. And so, meanwhile, we know that the trade war continues, but the reality is, in 2025, we’ve been very much reacting. In 2026, we have a plan, and our goal is to implement it. And so, when you think about it, last year, we created more jobs than in the United States. Indeed. We created 189,000 jobs, while the U.S., 10 times our economy, created 181,000 jobs. So, our plan is working, and our goal is to be in control. Because there are lots of things we cannot control, but there are lots of things we can control. And so, our plan is to protect jobs, to create jobs, and to attract talent and investment.
So, when you think of protecting jobs, well, we’ve been able to work with many of you. I know my dear friend Ron Bedard is here from ArcelorMittal, Dofasco, and we’ve been working very close with the steel industry to protect the jobs, also, in Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie, across Ontario, and across the country. We’ve been working with the aluminum sector, the copper sector, and also, the forestry sector. But I wanted to talk to you, also, about the auto sector because we released our auto strategy two weeks ago, already two weeks, and it’s been very well supported. Premier Ford, which I was in contact with again this morning, it’s been supporting, but also industry, unions, consumer groups, environmentalists. It’s rare that you see an industrial strategy being able to have so much support.
And our goal at the heart of the strategy is, obviously, to protect the 500,000 jobs in the auto sector, but it is really to embrace the vision that we are, and we will continue to build the best cars in the world for the world. And what I mean by that is, we’re doubling down on electrification, because that’s where capital is going in the world. Because by, and within the next five years, 40% of all the cars sold in the world will be EVs. This year, European Union is, actually, within the European Union, there are more EVs sold than internal combustion engine cars. So, this is about going, skating where the puck is going. This is about making sure that we are at the forefront of the development in the sector. And that’s why we’ll work with companies, to make sure that we can help them do that shift and embrace change.
And meanwhile, we don’t wanna be hostage of our geography. We wanna be able also to export around the world. We have 52 free trade agreements with different countries around the world. And we know that we have some of the most productive plants in the world. Of course, we’re home to one of the, well, three of the most important car parts companies in the world, Magna Linamar and Martinrea. But also, we know that Honda and Toyota’s plants are some of the most productive in the world, if not the most. And the Dodge Charger this year, which is built in Windsor, won the best car in North America. So, through this auto strategy, what we’re doing is we’re rewarding companies that are investing in us, in our workers. And so, Honda and Toyota have actually increased their production since the beginning of the trade war, and they’re now 77% of all our production in the country.
We’re also helping companies to maintain their footprint, to also make more investments. Three billion dollars in our Strategic Response Fund. And we’re attracting new investments. And we will use defence procurement to make sure that we’re able to attract new auto investments here in Ontario. Definitely, I’m having conversations with the Germans, also with the Koreans, and the Chinese. And so, that’s for protecting jobs. And Dan, it will be a pleasure to answer any questions linked to, also, the auto strategy.
Now, let’s talk about talent attraction, because we’ve launched also last December our new talent attraction strategy. Our goal is to attract 8,000 new researchers here to Canada. We know that we can be in brain gain mode. We know that there are many researchers, I must say, particularly south of the border, that are looking up north. And that’s why we wanted to seize that opportunity. The program has been launched. Universities, [Indiscernible], Brock University, Queens, McMaster are all receiving hundreds of applications. I’ll have more to say in the coming weeks, but I think we can be very, very proud of ourself, because right now, it’s not only going well, but Canada is actually in attraction mode. So, clearly we haven’t stopped.
Now, let’s talk about creating jobs. Before I go into the Defence Industrial Strategy, what we’ve done is—and you’ve heard the Prime Minister, Minister Hodgson, also, referring to that—we’ve launched everything linked to major projects. And many of you have been invested in these different projects, and thank you for that. And we know that in Ontario, one of the major projects is definitely the Darlington Nuclear Project, which is an important one. We want also to support even more national champions, because we believe that by supporting our really great companies here at home, we can help them also at the international level to seize even more opportunities.
Now, on the Defence Industrial Strategy, we launched it two weeks ago—no, two days ago, sorry about that—and we know that national security and economic security go hand in hand. But when, you know, we go on memory lane, when you look back in history, Canada once had a major defence industry. In 1939—and we’re at the Empire Club, you know, it’s just, the mood is just perfect—in 1939, Canada entered the war with nearly no industrial capacity on the defence side. In 1943, actually, in June of 1943, the Globe and Mail was reporting that 900,000 women and men produced each week, let’s remember, each week, 80 planes, 4,000 motor vehicles, 450 armored fighting vehicles, ammunitions, explosives, and more. Here in Ontario, Ajax grew out of the Second World War. Defense Industries Limited built the largest ammunition plant in the British Empire, at the Empire Club, British Empire on the outskirts of Toronto, and at the time, it was employing 9,000 Canadians, mainly women. Canada’s first fighter jet to enter mass production, the CF-100 Canuck, was built in Mississauga by Orenda Engines, which was later acquired by [Indiscernible] in 1997. And so all these great efforts, including, of course, one million Canadians that fought on the front lines, made sure that eventually, over the past 80 years, we’ve been able to live in peace and prosperity.
And so, my point is, is we were able to do it before, we’re able to do it again. And we need to do it, not only to protect us, and to protect our sovereignty, but as a deterrence method, to make sure that we keep our peace and prosperity. And so, let’s not be naive about geopolitics. We are living at a pivotal moment. And so, all NATO countries are increasing their defence spending. We will be able to meet their 2% target in the next couple of months. But the goal is to be at 5% of our GDP by 2035. And we also know that we’re too dependent on the US, and we cannot be in a position of economic vulnerability. We need to be in a position of strength.
So, that’s why we released our first Defence Industrial Strategy. And the objectives are very ambitious, but also very achievable. So, by 2035, we will be investing $500 billion in procurement and in infrastructure. We will create 125,000 jobs through investments in our defence. And in turn, we will increase by 50% our exports in the sector. Our procurement that is going towards Canadian companies right now is at 43%. It’s not enough. It will get to 70%. And we wanna make sure that we increase the revenues in the sector by 240%. We’re already in action mode. We haven’t stopped, and we haven’t lost time. We signed the SAFE agreement, which is a major defence procurement market with the EU worth $150 billion. We also made an important agreement, signed an important agreement with the European Space Agency for $500 million, to make sure that our space companies can also reach out and obtain contracts out of the European Space Agency. We just bought six Bombardier jets, and these will be built here in Ontario at Downsview. And the BDC just launched a new line of business to support companies that want to invest and develop even more the defence sector, and they’re putting $4 billion on the table. And investments has already started here in Toronto. Canada Rocket Company, a Toronto-based space tech venture, has just received its first investment on the part of the BDC, and it will be building rockets for the launch of satellites and to make sure that satellites are in orbit.
So, things are moving, and we’re moving fast. And at the heart of our strategy is IP. We want to make sure that we invest more in research and development. We want to make sure that there’s more IP that is here, developed in Ontario, in Canada, and we want to be in charge and in control of our IP. And so, our entire model is based on a build, partner, or buy. So, what does that mean? Well, we will always give priority to building in Canada. I will give you a couple of examples. Of course, we can build the ships, and of course, the ships, the vessels, the planes here in Canada. We can build the satellites at MDA Space in Montréal, and also, being operated by Telesat out of Ottawa. We can invest even more in secure data and secure system through BlackBerry. We can also invest more in AI, and we have, and we’re very fortunate to have Cohere, which is an LLM, a large language model, that is so key to our data sovereignty. And also, we can work on having the right simulators to train our pilots out of CAE in Montréal.
If we can’t buy here, if we can’t build here in Canada, we will then partner. And the example is the Bombardier Mitsubishi example, which is a plant in Mississauga right now, that basically is building for the Bombardier jets. Or Bombardier and Saab, and they have a GlobalEye project, which would be 4,000 jobs. And this project would be to support the GlobalEye, which is a surveillance plane based on Swedish technology with made-in-Canada planes. And if we can’t partner, then we will buy. And so, the best example I can give you is definitely the procurement that we’re doing right now with the submarines, with 12 submarines, which will be allocated either to a German and Norwegian partnership through TKMS or Hanwa, and this is the Korean proponent. Of course, there’s been already lots of news regarding what would be their supply chain across the country, and we want to make sure that there’s the most industrial benefits out of this procurement. But fundamentally, what we want also is a car plant. And that is why we’re talking also with the Germans and the Koreans, because we think we can attract more investments in the auto sector through leveraging defence investments. And so, all that will be supported by our Buy Canada policy, and this, a lot of these things will be built with our steel and aluminum, obviously. And we also think that the Defence Industrial Strategy is a very good way to leverage what is happening in the auto sector, not only to attract investments, but also to make sure that we’re able to offer really good careers to those affected by job losses in the auto sector. That is why I personally see our Defence Industrial Strategy as a very important economic stimulus for our economy.
And so, how we will decide whether we build, whether we partner, whether we buy, well, it’s all linked to a list that we were able to work on, which is about our sovereign capabilities. And so examples of what are our sovereign capabilities right now, as we’ve established, is aerospace, including aerospace platforms, digital systems, specialized manufacturing, building icebreakers, training simulation, I could go on. There is a list of 10 sovereign capabilities. And so, our goal—and I’ve heard it many, many times from the industry—is to offer contracts rather than subsidies to companies. And there’s nothing like having a contract from the Canadian government to be able to show to your potential clients, or even to your existing client, that you have the trust of the federal government, but not only here at home, but also around the world.
And so, we also know that procurement is too slow, and too complicated. So, we now have a new defence investment agency. It is headed by Doug Guzman. He’s putting his team in place. And this defence investment agency will make procurement go much more faster. And I just want—I’m nearly done—I just want to talk to you how much there’s procurements coming our way and how much this will have an impact short term. In the next year, either in terms of procurements, we will launch, we will award or deliver. For the Navy, 12 submarines, 15 river class destroyers, six Arctic and offshore patrol ships, two heavy polar icebreakers. That’s just for the Navy. For the Air Forces, of course, there are everything linked to the fighter jets, and the training of these pilots. For the space sector, satellite communications, not only building satellites, but also launching them, and the operations of them. And also, for the Army, everything linked to munitions. We will have a new drone innovation hub at the NRC, at the National Research Council in Ottawa, an investment of $105 million. And we’ve already launched Borealis, which dual-use research, our goal is not only to invest in your universities and in our researchers, but also, to make sure that we can commercialize a lot of the research.
So, in conclusion, we are now at a pivotal moment. This is an entire change in culture of how we’ve done procurement, and how we’ve seen our investments in defence. But as I said, we’ve done it before, and we can do it again. Our plan is to give you the tools to be able to take part in the creation of this new industry. We know we can create thousands of jobs here in Toronto, in Ontario, and across the country. Of course, the ball is in our court on the government side, but the ball is also in your court, particularly if you’re representing a big company, a major player, a company that could become a strategic partner for our defence sector. It is time to make sure, also, that small and medium-sized businesses can be part of your supply chain, and that we’re thinking as this being one of the major Canadian undertaking of this decade. So, let’s work together, and let’s make sure that we win. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dan.
Daniel Tisch
Okay. Well, we’ve just got a short time for a few minutes…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
…because we have a fabulous panel coming up here, led by one of my favourite journalists. So, we’ve got—I was really struck in your comments, Minister, that by the interconnection…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
M’hm (affirmative).
Daniel Tisch
…between national and economic sovereignty, right?
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah. Of course.
Daniel Tisch
And I thought your comments about where there’s connection between the auto strategy and the Defence Industrial Strategy was particularly interesting.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
And I guess I wanna maybe go back to where you started, and what I referred to as well, and that’s kind of how we see the strategy evolving, as represented by the Prime Minister’s speech in Davos.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
And so, it was interesting hearing the reaction from business leaders after that speech, right? First of all, very strong, I guess my take, very strong support…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah. Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
…for the Prime Minister and the way he met that moment. Anxiety about words and actions, whether they would match up, right? It’s easy to say things, it’s harder to do things.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
M’hm (affirmative).
Daniel Tisch
And maybe the third is a bit of anxiety, as well, about its impact on the Canada-U.S. relationship.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Daniel Tisch
And so, maybe we’ll start there. Because what does this idea mean for Canada pursue this path as a middle power, right? And how do we make it tangible, and real, and concrete? What are the key elements of that strategy? And maybe a quick comment on how you see the Canada-U.S. relationship in that context.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah. Okay. Many things.
Daniel Tisch
Many things.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
A very, very large question, and a very good one. So, a couple of things. I think I know, and you mentioned in your question two times the word anxiety.
Daniel Tisch
Yeah.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
I know that there’s a lot of anxiety. We all feel it, we all know it. But I think that what is really important to counter that anxiety is to know that we have control over things. And clearly, we have control over how we build our own economy here at home. And maybe, because of my former—as a foreign minister, we’re not alone. All countries in the world are like this, okay? So, that’s also really, really important. And meanwhile, we—and you mentioned it, have still the best access to the American economy. You know, a vast majority of our exports still being tariff-free. Which is not the case for Japan, which is not the case for Korea, which is not the case for the EU, and nor, of course, the UK. So, basically, we’re in a good position.
We’re also in a good position because we understand the US more than any country on Earth. Because all of your business relationships, your family relationships, et cetera, the fact we’re a lot, also, in the same media reality. And so, we are able to develop a plan that we’re not only reacting. And when the prime minister spoke in Davos, he said what everybody thought, but he was also able to convince world leaders that what we were experiencing was something that was going to be the rule for the next three years. And in that sense, right now, what we need to do with many countries, and what we need to do a lot with many, you know, businesses is to do these industrial partnerships because the problem Canada has, and actually many countries have, is we have all free trade agreements, but fundamentally, where does capital go? Where do the business connections happen? And so, I’m going very soon to Germany just to sign an important agreement with my German counterpart, to make sure afterwards that there can be more investments in manufacturing.
Daniel Tisch
But how do we get businesses to actually walk through those doors? Like, what’s the role…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Well….
Daniel Tisch
…how do you see the role of government in supporting businesses, helping them access the many supports that are available to them?
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
So, we have the industrial strategies, which I talked about.
Daniel Tisch
Yeah.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
The auto strategy, lots of funding for companies.
Daniel Tisch
Yeah. Yeah.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
We have the Strategic Response Fund. At this point, it’s more than $3 billion to make investments, when you decide to make more investments. We have, you know, we can do that. What we’re doing right now, also, with the Defence Industrial Strategy is it’s an opportunity, because we didn’t invest as much in defence like other of our allies. So, we have so much advanced manufacturing opportunities that will create jobs. And so, if a community is affected by job losses, we know that the Defence Industrial Strategy can be a way through defence procurement of helping that community. We can drive some of the investment, because we’re in charge of procurement as well.
But to go back to your point is, that’s exactly the conversations that I’m having with Sweden, with Norway, with Italy, with Germany, with Japan. Because as ministers, we’re all very much more internally focused, because we’re industry ministers. But all the different companies we’re talking to want to do more business amongst—and they want to de-risk from what is happening in the US. Period. So then, you have Dominic LeBlanc right now in Mexico, that is leading the biggest trade mission that Canada has ever done in Mexico. You have the Prime Minister that is heading to India. We just also were able to resolve our issues with China. Our goal is to really be able to offer you a business environment to then be able to try to, how can I say, diversify. And that can be done through different ways.
Daniel Tisch
Yeah. Well, maybe—we’re almost out of time here…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
…but maybe, I’ll, we’ll just do one more around kind of giving us a preview of 2026, maybe.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
You know, we looked at last year’s budget. And I think, like a lot of business advocacy organizations, we generally like the direction, right? I mean, there’s the focus, the greater focus on investment than on consumption…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
M’hm (affirmative).
Daniel Tisch
…the big bets on infrastructure, and…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah.
Daniel Tisch
…and the industries of the future, as you were saying, where the puck is going. Good hockey analogy, as the women’s team takes the stage.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Yeah, indeed.
Daniel Tisch
But, you know, building ports, defence….
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
I also said we would win.
Daniel Tisch
Yes.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
That was the end of my speech.
Daniel Tisch
I believe it, I believe it. So, walk us through though, like there are hard choices government has to make right now. There are immediate pressures. The fiscal situation, you know, it’s always tricky managing the balance with all this new investment. So, where does the focus have to be, in your view? What do we do less, what does the government have to do less of? And what does it have to do more of?
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Well, listen, I think we’re into major undertakings right now. The number one priority in our government is, obviously, the economy. Because that’s, it, everything stems from that. And so, coming up with our industrial policies, obviously on auto, obviously on defence, we’re also coming up, my colleague Evan Solomon is coming up one on AI. There’s also going to be the climate competitiveness strategy, and everything in terms of delivering the different strategies we’re putting in place. So, the major projects, we have 11 major projects, we need to make sure that these are starting to be built. You know, the auto plants, my goal is to have new investments very soon. The defence procurement, why did I present the list of procurements is I wanted you to know that this is not only theoretical. It’s coming, and investments will happen. And we know we need to deliver. We know, not only because our Canadian Armed Forces need it, but fundamentally, we need to be more than 2% of our GDP. And we need to, you know, not be the last country within NATO investing in defence. And we know that also, it’s part of our way to really work on an economic stimulus.
So I must say, you know, we’re coming up with a lot of different reforms, really important ones. But the goal is to really be in delivery mode. And Dan, delivery mode is important not only because it, you know, it’s the impacts on communities, but it is also about your point in what you were talking about, confidence. And when people see bit by bit the impacts of what the government is doing, then they will take the risk of saying, you know what? Okay, I’ll invest this year in my business. Okay, I’ll hire a bit more. Oh, I’ll go in that market, and I’ll spend the money to develop that new client.
Daniel Tisch
Yeah.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
So, that’s the goal.
Daniel Tisch
Okay.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
I want you to be able to, notwithstanding, indeed, the anxiety that will continue to be confident that we have a good plan, we’re in control, and we will be able to get through this together.
Daniel Tisch
Well, thank you for your partnership, and thank you…
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Thank you.
Daniel Tisch
…for reinforcing the message that fundamentally what we have to do is give businesses the confidence to invest in themselves. Please join me, in thanking the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry.
The Hon. Mélanie Joly
Thank you.
Saurabh Popat
Thank you. Merci beaucoup to both Daniel and the Minister. To explore today’s themes more fully, we’re joined by an outstanding panel. So, don’t go anywhere to the audience yet. Our moderator today is Rita Trichur, Senior Business Writer and Columnist for the Report on Business at the Globe and Mail. Rita is an award-winning journalist, and an expert in financial services, banking, and corporate leadership. She has served in the senior editorial roles at the Globe and Mail, and previously reported from Toronto for the Wall Street Journal’s Canada Bureau.
Joining Rita is Jennifer MacLeod-Macey, Senior Vice President at Léger. Jennifer is one of Canada’s leading public affairs researchers, and for over two decades, she has advised governments, corporations, and associations on reputation, policy development, issues management, and communication strategy. We’re also joined on the stage by Gabriella Siciliano, Interim Vice President of Operations at Invest Ontario. Gabriella leads critical operational initiatives at the agency while continuing to guide its investment attraction, marketing, and corporate communication strategy. And finally, Ron Bedard, President and CEO of ArcelorMittal Dofasco. Ron leads one of Ontario’s cornerstone manufacturers and currently serves as the chair of the Canadian Steel Producers Association. Please join me, in welcoming this outstanding panel to the stage.
Rita Trichur, Senior Business Writer & Columnist for the Report on Business
All right, good afternoon, everyone. We have a great panel, and we are gonna jump right into the discussion. It wasn’t my big hair for once, rustling against the microphone. Okay. Just to open up, a question for all of you. You know, Ontario, as we enter 2026, we’ve heard that business confidence remains fragile. Dan talked about this, only 23% of firms are saying that they’re confident in the province’s economic outlook because of trade uncertainty and cost pressures, and they’re weighing heavily on people’s decisions right now. So, from where each of you sit, how would you describe this moment for Ontario businesses, and what is shaping decision-making the most at this time? And we’re gonna go Ron, Gabriella, and then Jennifer.
Ron Bedard, President & CEO, ArcelorMittal Dofasco
Well, thank you, and thank everybody for attending. If I look back to 2025, certainly, we were caught off guard by the immediacy of the president’s behaviour, and the reaction all across Canada. And it took a while for us to change direction. But I will say that the government of Canada immediately, the first call that we had was from Minister Joly. Minister Joly continued to stay connected to the steel industry from the start, and we pivoted very, very quickly. As I look to 2026, our outlook is much more positive than it was in 2025, and we had a really good year in ’25. I think about Prime Minister Carney’s comments in Davos. For everybody that’s in the room, we have a seat at the table, we’re not on the menu, and there’s so much that’s in our control. And everywhere I go in Canada, from coast to coast, whether it’s a politician, a customer, or a supplier, everybody is laser-focused on getting through this. So, I applaud that across the nation.
Gabriella Siciliano, Vice-President, Operations & Director, Marketing & Communications, Invest Ontario
Well, you asked what moment are we in. So I think, you know, with caution, we’re in a moment of opportunity. I think that our speakers talked about that. At Invest Ontario, what we’re seeing is a tremendous amount of energy, and enthusiasm, and confidence from Ontario business leaders. And we’re delighted that the report shows that, too. So we had Chapman’s, we did a project with Chapman’s, they’re opening a new facility. We had Element 5, Northern [Indiscernible], all these Ontario businesses that are really excited about the opportunity that the province is providing them. And so, yes, there’s caution, of course. No one is naive. But there seems to be a real confidence here at home about what we’ve got going on here. And as an organization that interfaces with international companies on a daily basis, we’re really pleased that our international colleagues and clients feel the same way. So cautious optimism, I think.
Rita Trichur
Jennifer, we want you to weigh in, as well.
Jennifer McLeod Macey, Senior Vice President, Leger
Weigh in, and navigate a mic. Are we good? Okay. Well, you know, Dan shared the research findings. And really, it’s very important that we keep this in mind, because confidence, it might not be a predictor on GDP, but it really is a leading indicator for behaviour. And while we do have some weak confidence, we don’t have a collapse. And so, we’ve got some macro-level concerns, but businesses are still feeling strong, and we showcased resilience this past year. We will again this year.
Rita Trichur
Okay. So, some follow-ups. Ron, I’m gonna start with you. We saw the US act really quickly with tariffs in February, which must’ve felt like groundhog day for you, considering you experienced this in 2018, during the first Trump administration, with respect to the tariffs on steel and aluminum. What is different in what we are seeing now, both in terms of the tariffs themselves, but also the reaction in industry and government?
Ron Bedard
I think by any measure, Trump 47 is different than Trump 45. In 2018, there was a steel tariff, and we worked through that. And for the majority of the presidency, we did not have a tariff on steel. It’s a completely different chapter in Trump 47. But again, we’ve pivoted in products. If we look across the country for food security earlier, we were not making tin cans for food security in Canada. By the end of next year, we’ll make 1.4 billion tin cans in Canada. Our product mix is changing. The Minister calls from Korea and Germany, and asks if we can make products for ships pretty routinely. So, I thank her for that. And so it’s not just about resilience. We’re working closely with the government of Canada and the government of Ontario to make a $25 million investment in our R&D facilities in Hamilton, looking to products of the future, mining products, rare earth minerals of the future for our facilities in Hamilton.
Rita Trichur
Okay. And Jennifer, asking you to just zoom out for a moment. What is surprising you in how businesses have responded to tariffs, when you consider other crises that we’ve faced in the last 10 years?
Jennifer McLeod Macey
Well, and we have faced a lot. So, I think in this case, it’s that pivot that you mentioned. We’re not waiting for a reset, we’re acting already. And so, I think Dan mentioned this, that 16% are confident, but that’s not stopping them from moving, right? They’re moving, they’ve raised prices, they’ve diversified, so on and so forth.
Rita Trichur
Okay, so nearly two-thirds of Ontario businesses are expecting tariffs, trade policy shifts, and potential CUSMA negotiations to negatively impact them, and that’s a lot. And trade exposed regions, as we heard, are really feeling this acutely. How is this trade uncertainty already affecting decisions around investment, pricing, supply chains or workforce? And what does this actually mean for Ontario’s competitiveness at this moment? Ron, I’m gonna start with you.
Ron Bedard
I think, again, so much is in our control. We’ve got some of the best academic institutions in the world, we’ve got a tremendous workforce. I’m blessed to work with 5,000 people who are some of the best in the world. ArcelorMittal Dofasco is one of the best steel companies in the world, and it has been for 114 years. And we’ve got people from across the country I’ve met with all of the premiers, the leaders. Canada’s coming together like I’ve never seen before. I was watching the national anthem, and having a hard time keeping my eyes dry at the start of the show. And so, we’re really focused on being east-west focused, rather than north-south. People have asked me, the ministers asked me, if the tariffs were to go away, would we go back to the US? And we have a five-year business plan that our folks struck last year, that by year two-and-a-half, we’re entirely focused on Canada. And if the tariffs go away, we’ll be entirely focused on Canada. The government, private sector, the citizens of Canada are going out of their way to buy Canadian, and we’re gonna take advantage of that. And we’re proud to be here in Canada. We’re proud to be Canadians, employing Canadians. So, I think we have everything the world has to offer right here at home.
Rita Trichur
Okay. And Jennifer?
Jennifer McLeod Macey
Yeah. So, those shifts have already happened, right? So, the two-thirds are expecting the tariffs, but we’ve already said a quarter have increased prices. I think many of us have felt that. A fifth are diversifying their suppliers. Others, they’re, you know, they’re adjusting their strategies to absorb these costs. And so, we’re seeing this pivot, while we are feeling that anxiety and uncertainty. We’re reacting.
Rita Trichur
Okay, and Gabriella, you constantly discuss new perspective opportunities for Ontario. Is the Ontario advantage that you are pitching changing, and if so, how?
Gabriella Siciliano
Well, I think it’s like nice tee up, thank you. You know, Ontario has the most post-secondary students or graduates in the OECD, so we’re tremendously talented here. And I think one of the things that we’re seeing, both, you know, just demographically, but also in terms of the clients and the projects that they’re bringing to us, is this real intersection. So, people don’t work in the auto industry anymore, or work in life sciences. They work in AI. And sometimes, they’re gonna be working in biopharma and using AI for that, and sometimes they’re gonna be optimizing waste management, right? It’s that capability and that capacity building that we have so strong here in Ontario, which is really attractive to companies that are trying to come here, right? Or companies who are trying to grow. They’re looking to do something new.
And you know, talking about a five-year plan, that’s right. Right? Business leaders, even in uncertainty, are not sitting there going, “Well, we’ll just wait this out then,” right? No, they have shareholders, they have to grow, they have to be ambitious, and they have to be reasonable. So, what are they looking for? Stability. Ontario offers that, politically, economically, talent-based. Talent and a workforce, we offer that. Industry-agnostic, capability-specific. AI, robotics, manufacturing, right? These are the things that they want. Not like, you know, withstanding the snow and ice yesterday, we also have a great place to live, right? So, these are the things that executives are weighing up when they’re thinking about, what am I doing? How am I diversifying my own portfolio, my own projects, and my own business away from the US? Or just in general. It’s not a lot of anti-US conversation. It’s really just, I need to do something. I want to do something ambitious. Where’s the place that I can do that that I know for a five-year plan can stand behind me? And Ontario is still that place.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Rita Trichur
Okay. So, we just have over three minutes left, if you can believe it. This has just gone by. But I want to get some audience questions in, because these are the folks that have very pointed questions—well, in addition to me, of course, I have lots of questions. But this one is particularly, I think, pertinent, particularly because we have a federal minister here. Attracting talent requires strong immigration systems. How can our government better support employers to find and recruit international workers that meet their needs? Who wants to take that?
Ron Bedard
Yeah. I’ll go ahead. It’s been a challenge for us this year. I understand the logic. We had a housing crisis. We have a housing crisis. We have a homelessness crisis. And so, I’m certainly sensitive to that. If I look, we’re an international company, a global company. Having people be able to come and work at our facilities, researchers come to work at our facilities have become increasingly difficult. We have people here who had good standing in their visas, who are now struggling to stay in the country. When Minister Joly was the foreign affairs minister, she would intervene in key cases, or have her ministry intervene. And we see that with Minister Anand. We welcome people from around the world here. It’s more difficult to get here. We acknowledge that. And so, we’re being more cautious with people who want to come and work with us. Just making sure that all the cards are on the table.
Rita Trichur
Okay, and another audience question. This is about productivity, which is a topic that I try to make really sexy in the pages of The Globe and Mail. I don’t know if I’m succeeding. But anyway, Ontario’s productivity growth has lagged in recent years. From your perspective, what structural reforms would have the biggest impact on business competitiveness?
Gabriella Siciliano
Well, I think, I mean, no surprise here, but AI is gonna really accelerate productivity. So, I think companies are trying to embrace that, and they’re trying to figure out how to do that in a way that is protecting the integrity as an employer, making sure that they’re re-skilling people, up-skilling people. And that trickles down through training colleges and universities, and how we get the next generation of people ready. So, I think that, certainly that is one area that we’re all seeing, I’m sure, in our own businesses and areas, the embracing of AI. I don’t know, are you guys seeing your businesses?
Ron Bedard
Yeah. I think we find ourselves sometimes in the steel industry interchanging AI and automation. But you know, ArcelorMittal’s a company of engineers that also makes steel, and into mining. And so, we’re always looking for productivity advantages, one of the reasons we have such strength, globally. And it also helps us get into products, and lead the way in products that nobody else in the world can make. So, ArcelorMittal’s number one at 21 of the 22 automakers in the world. And we do that both with people, with automation, cutting-edge technology in our R&D centres around the world.
Rita Trichur
Okay. You know what? We are practically out of time, so we’re gonna have to leave the conversation there. I just would like to join everyone, ask them to join me in thanking Ron, Jennifer, and Gabriella for their valuable insights on this very important topic. Thank you.
Note of Appreciation and Concluding Remarks by Saurabh Popat
Thank you so much, those incredible speakers on our panel today. Minister Joly, Daniel, Rita, Jennifer, Gabriella, Ron, thank you. Thank you, once again, for sharing your insights and your leadership perspectives. And thank you again to our sponsors, and of course, to all of you for joining us here today. I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the students and young leaders joining us. Their presence is made possible through the charitable arm, the Empire Club Foundation, and the generosity of our donors. We have an exciting membership program, as well, so please see our staff at the front entrance.
And I hope you’ll join us for two upcoming exciting events. On February 24th, we will have a discussion on quantum power and national security, Canada’s new strategic imperative, featuring Lisa Lambert, CEO of Quantum Industry Canada. As quantum technologies reshape defence and economic strategy, this timely discussion will examine how Canada can secure sovereign capacity and compete with G7 and NATO alliances.
And on March the 10th, we will host Ontario’s Minister of Finance, the Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, for his annual pre-budget address. At a pivotal moment here for our province, as we heard today, this cornerstone event will offer an early look at how Ontario plans to strengthen resilience, attract investment, and drive growth in 2026 and beyond. Tickets for both events are now on sale.
And as always, as a club of record, all Empire Club events are available to watch and listen to on our website. The recording of today’s event will be available very shortly. This meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
