Cleveland-Cliffs says Stelco in 'full compliance' with commitments to Ottawa, wants to meet with Joly

Stelco’s Ohio-based parent company said in a news release on Tuesday morning that after "an exhaustive review of its compliance with each of its 34 undertakings," it is in "full compliance" with the obligations it made under the Investment Canada Act when it bought Stelco in 2024.

Last week, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly gave Stelco's owner 15 days to reverse layoffs

Conrad Collaco · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 27, 2026 8:14 AM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

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Stelco’s American parent company said in a news release on Tuesday morning that after "an exhaustive review of its compliance with each of its 34 undertakings," it is in "full compliance" with the obligations it made under the Investment Canada Act when it bought Stelco in 2024.

This comes after Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly last week gave Cleveland Cliffs a 15-day deadline to reverse layoffs before turning to the courts.

Cleveland-Cliffs said late last month that it plans to lay off as many as 500 workers as it idles certain steel production at Hamilton-based Stelco.

In a demand letter sent to Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday, Joly says the company is violating its commitments under the Investment Canada Act.

In Tuesday’s release, Cleveland Cliffs said "Stelco’s performance exceeds the commitments that were made at the time of the acquisition. This includes the employment undertakings."

The company also said that it asked for a meeting with Joly and Cleveland-Cliffs chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves "to discuss a path toward resuming full employment of the 175 workers in Hamilton who have been temporarily laid off." The release said "notwithstanding her publicly stated willingness to sit down, the Minister has not yet responded to this request."

Goncalves said the company wants "to find a solution for Hamilton and its workers as soon as possible and believes common sense trade policy will make this a reality."

Strong 3rd-quarter results

While the company has said the layoffs are required to ensure its survival, Cleveland-Cliffs said last week that Stelco's third quarter this year was its "strongest" since it acquired the Hamilton plant.

"Third quarter was Stelco's strongest ... since we acquired the company two years ago. The Canadian hot-rolled market has improved substantially," Goncalves said in a statement on Oct. 19.

The company said the planned layoffs are in order to "ensure the survival" of the company, as U.S. tariffs on steel squeeze its sales. But Joly has dismissed that reasoning.

"Let me be clear: no act of God or change in market conditions can relieve Cleveland-Cliffs of the commitments it made to Canada. Those commitments are not optional," she said in her statement.