March 5, 2026 Victoria, British Columbia Employment and Social Development Canada
The global trade landscape is shifting rapidly, creating uncertainty and challenges for workers, industries and communities across Canada. In a rapidly changing world, we are focusing on what we can control: building a stronger more resilient Canada. This calls for decisive action from governments at all levels to protect jobs, strengthen local economies and ensure workers can adapt to changing economic realities.
Workers whose jobs have been directly or indirectly impacted by global tariffs will receive support to help them adapt, retrain and succeed, as a result of a partnership agreement announced today by the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, and the Honourable Sheila Malcolmson, British Columbia's Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
Specifically, $70.4 million over three years will be invested through the new Canada-British Columbia Workforce Tariff Response to support workers within the softwood lumber, steel and other directly and indirectly tariff-affected industries. This new funding will help more than 8,000 workers in British Columbia build new skills.
Supports will be delivered through WorkBC's provincewide network to ensure timely, local, and personalized support for workers who may benefit from retraining or employment assistance as they transition into new opportunities, including:
- unemployed workers seeking to gain new skills for in-demand jobs;
- workers whose employers are participating in Work-Sharing agreements, so that they may upskill or retrain as these industries adapt; and,
- employed workers seeking new skills to improve their resiliency within companies directly affected by tariffs and global market shifts or their supply chains, or within communities that rely heavily on those companies, such as single-industry communities.
Implementation of the partnership agreement will leverage both existing and new or enhanced mechanisms and will benefit from the input of labour and business representatives. Coordinating directly with impacted businesses to protect jobs and strengthening data‑sharing will give tariff‑affected workers and those in Work‑Sharing agreements improved opportunities for upskilling or retraining, in a changing economic landscape.
This transformative new approach reflects a shared commitment by the governments of Canada and British Columbia to support Canadians through a period of significant economic adjustment, while building a strong, confident workforce-one where workers can navigate global uncertainty and industries can remain competitive in the global marketplace.
