TOP STORY
Ottawa’s Counter-Tariffs Land on Construction’s Shopping List
At 12:01 a.m. today, Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect on $27.6 billion of U.S. imports — and the list reads like a contractor’s purchase order. Goods made wholly or substantially of steel and aluminum now carry a 50% tariff, doubled from 25%, with furniture joining them; appliances and steel and aluminum derivative products draw 25%. Ottawa calls it dollar-for-dollar retaliation for Washington’s Section 338 action of August 22. Fair enough as diplomacy — but a tariff is a tax paid at the border by the Canadian buyer. B.C. and Alberta builders just took a cost increase on structural steel, rebar, cladding, fixtures and appliances, and homebuyers will get the bill. TD’s Marc Ercolao figures the hit to headline GDP is modest given the targeted scope, but warns affected industries “will remain under pressure” and that stalled talks risk the delayed investment and hiring the Bank of Canada flagged when it held at 2.25% on September 2. The $7.5-billion support package announced alongside will do nothing for the contractor whose steel package just went up 25 points. Remission requests are still being accepted — file now, not in November.
THE NUMBERS — STATISTICS CANADA
Labour Force Survey, August 2026 — Employment fell 42,000 as the unemployment rate held at 6.4%. Natural resources shed 7,700 jobs (-2.3%) and utilities 5,600 (-3.5%). Wage growth decelerated to 2.0% year over year — the slowest since 2017 outside the pandemic. Statistics Canada
Retail Commodity Survey, June 2026 — Released today. Retail sales hit $78.4 billion, up 7.2% year over year, with 17 of 18 commodity classes higher. The consumer is still spending. The question is how long that lasts once a tariffed import basket works through to shelf prices. Statistics Canada
FROM THE ECONOMISTS
TD Economics — Canadian Merchandise Trade (July 2026) — The surplus collapsed to $769 million from $4.2 billion as exports fell 2.3%, led by minerals and a 5.6% drop in crude shipments. One bright spot: exports to non-U.S. destinations hit a record high, up 7.4% on the month.
RBC Economics — Canada’s jobs market held onto earlier improvement in August — RBC reads through the 42,000-job drop to a labour market still holding the ground it gained from April to July. Note the survey week ran August 9 to 15 — before the tariff escalation.
WORTH WATCHING
Bank of Canada, October 28 — The Bank is boxed in: tariffs and Middle East energy prices push inflation up, while trade damage pushes growth down. Do not budget for cheaper money this year.
WorkSafeBC’s Power Grab — The largest proposed expansion of WorkSafeBC’s authority in a generation, dropped on employers with an eight-week summer comment window. ICBA has laid out what is at stake: this one reaches past your site and into how you run your company.
Federal Budget 2026 — B.C. and Alberta carry $650 billion in major projects on the books. What is missing is a system that can build them. ICBA’s submission sets out 15 ways Ottawa can get Canada building.
IN BRIEF
ConstructConnect — Construction begins on major B.C. transmission line. Crews broke ground last week on the first 165-kilometre leg of the North Coast Transmission Line — $3.9 billion committed, 1,400 jobs at peak build, and the power Ksi Lisims LNG and the Golden Triangle cannot proceed without.
Know Your Codes — The full counter-tariff product list is live. Check your steel, aluminum and appliance HS codes before your next order crosses.
COFFEE & CONSTRUCTION
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman serves up a 10-minute rundown of the news facing B.C. and Alberta construction on the Coffee & Construction podcast. Catch the latest episode: C&C #28: Build Like It’s Wartime. Subscribe free on YouTube (@ICBATV), ICBA’s socials, or wherever you download podcasts.