Greater Sudbury to award contracts to firms with a 90 per cent Canadian workforce

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 8:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Greater Sudbury volition beryllium updating its purchasing bylaws to guarantee companies that supply goods and services to the metropolis person an bureau oregon installation successful Canada, and that astatine slightest 90 per cent of their workforce is Canadian.

The question was championed by politician Paul Lefebvre and adopted unanimously by metropolis assembly Tuesday nighttime during a committee meeting.

The change comes arsenic 2 U.S.-based companies bid to go the operators for the city's caller $200 million arena being planned for the downtown.

"That's coming into play," said Lefebvre. "We person to marque definite that whoever bids, thing that we do, is Canada first." 

He says this is portion of Greater Sudbury's efforts to support its section system successful the look of a Canada-U.S. tariff war. 

The 2 finalists hoping to negociate Sudbury's aboriginal lawsuit centre volition present beryllium notified of the city's updated purchasing bylaws. 

If they can't conscionable the requirements, assembly volition see its options. 

"We each consciousness precise affectional astir this," said Lefebvre. "It starts with our procurement policies. We're going to research this opportunity. If they fit, great. If not, travel backmost to us." 

Lefebvre is not acrophobic the caller requirements could origin delays successful securing a institution to negociate the venue, arsenic the downtown lawsuit centre is not acceptable to unfastened until 2028.

"We person 1 accidental to bash this right, that's wherefore we privation the expertise up front… but if they don't fit, we volition effort to get that expertise successful different ways." 

This latest question retired of Sudbury metropolis assembly is portion of a wider inclination of municipalities changing their policies successful the aftermath of the U.S.-Canada commercialized war. 

Cities and towns crossed northeastern Ontario are grappling with their procurement contracts arsenic galore marque efforts to chopped retired American products and services to enactment Canada's broader defiance of existent and projected tariffs.