On Thursday, a coalition of workers, housing and healthcare activists, and more held a press conference calling for urgent government action to protect workers and small businesses during the ongoing trade war affecting Canada. The press conference marked the launch of the “No One Left Behind” campaign for a worker-first agenda in response to American tariffs.
While the Canadian federal and provincial governments are focused on establishing tariffs of their own and throwing money at businesses, workers are set to bear the brunt of the economic impact. Without robust support systems, workers will struggle to survive.
“Frankly, we’re really worried about the tariff crisis,” said Deena Ladd, Executive Director of the Workers’ Action Centre, in her opening remarks at the press conference. To fight it, she said, “we are calling for a clear emergency preparedness plan that leaves no one behind.”
Every worker loses in a trade war
Donald Trump’s tariffs and the ensuing trade war are threatening to torpedo the Canadian economy, with job losses projected in the hundreds of thousands.
Speaking at the press conference, economist Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work noted that while the economy is difficult to predict thanks to Trump’s indecisiveness around when to implement tariffs and on which industries, the forecast is grim.
”I anticipate a million job losses from this attack,” said Stanford of the tariffs. Though not as severe as job losses during COVID-19, he predicted that the losses will likely be of a similar magnitude, and more permanent. Stanford also noted that while there is still uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the tariffs, this uncertainty is already having negative impacts on the Canadian economy.
Migrant workers are especially at risk if the job losses are anywhere near what Stanford and others are predicting. Migrant worker Leonel Nava from Migrant Workers Alliance for Change pointed out that migrant workers on closed work permits are only allowed to work for a single employer. If that employer fires them, as many did during COVID-19 when workers got sick and were unable to work, migrant workers are not eligible to work elsewhere in Canada. Since immigration status is so often tied to work permits, being fired often means that migrant workers are left without status and face deportation.
Presenters were quick to point out that rising costs affect everyday working-class people the most, and many people are already struggling to afford food and shelter. A massive economic downturn on top of this would be a twist of the proverbial knife for workers.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government’s response thus far has been to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US and to create a remission program for businesses looking to import certain goods from across the border. Provinces have committed to little more than pulling American liquor from the shelves and offering loans and tax relief for businesses. The biggest losers in a trade war are workers on both sides, as evidenced by Justin Trudeau’s latest statement boasting that retaliatory tariffs will cause the US to “lose thousands of jobs.”
Rising poverty levels will have an impact on workers far beyond what statistics can predict. Speaking of the impact of poverty on health, Dr. Gary Bloch of Health Providers Against Poverty and the Decent Work and Health Network related that decades of research back up the link between poverty, illness, and injury, and his day-to-day practice is no exception.
”Precarious work, living in poverty, and living with economic uncertainty pose serious threats to health,” said Bloch. ”Those living in poverty get sicker faster and die earlier. We have known this for decades.”
With tariffs looming and economic uncertainty already here, Bloch is worried about his patients and the health of all workers.
”An economic shock of this scale and the potential job loss from the tariffs will send my patients deeper into poverty,” he said. “What we now need is action from our government. There must be no exclusions and no waiting period.”
Others reflected the urgency of Bloch’s statement.
“This is a national emergency,” Stanford declared. “The key goal [in making these demands] is to make sure that people’s lives are not destroyed. We have the capacity to stand together and make sure that no one is left behind.”
Expanding EI and income supports
With job losses looming, one key focal point for advocates is Canada’s gutted-out, often inaccessible Employment Insurance system. As the gig economy grows and an increasing number of workers are misclassified as “independent contractors,” fewer and fewer workers are eligible for EI. Worse still, the approximately 1.7 million migrant workers in Canada with precarious or no immigration status often cannot access EI, even when EI contributions are deducted from their pay.
While EI was bolstered during the onset of COVID-19, this was only a temporary measure. The lack of permanent changes to the system means that workers are once again struggling in the face of a drastic economic change. Ladd said at the press conference that the government’s promise to monitor the situation is not an adequate response. What is needed instead are immediate, proactive, and permanent changes. Income supports need to be adequate, accessible, and not subject to punitive clawbacks, as was the case with CERB.
“It is shocking that five years after the COVID pandemic, EI has not been fixed so that workers can access supports when they need them,” Ladd said. “Here we are again, facing another economic crisis, and the government is telling workers to wait and see […] Responding to the problem after the fact will be too late for workers and businesses.”
Stanford called for some of these changes to be borne by the companies that profit from gig workers, including a call for companies like Uber to make immediate emergency payments into EI to bolster the available funds. He also called for EI to be available to all workers, regardless of their (mis)classification as “independent contractors” or their immigration status.
Speaking about the difficulties faced by migrant workers in accessing supports, Nava pointed out that he and his fellow migrant workers “work in Canada, pay taxes in Canada, are Canadian workers just like you,” and that ”all migrant workers should have access to income supports.” Without the same rights as other workers, migrant workers are left to fight alone every time a crisis arises, as they were during COVID-19.
The most effective way to bridge that gap, said Nava, is to ensure that migrant workers have permanent immigration status. This would ensure that migrants have full access to the supports they need and that they can no longer be exploited and discriminated against on the basis of status.
Even if EI coverage and payments undergo drastic overhauls, the speakers acknowledged that there will still be many workers who are not eligible for EI, but are still suffering the impacts of the recession. That is why the campaign calls for broad income supports of at least $600 per week, dispersed as direct grants for those who do not qualify for other programs. This demand fills any further gaps in EI eligibility and ensures that, as the campaign demands, no one is left behind.
Moratorium on evictions and rent increases
Nichola Taylor, the Chair of the New Brunswick chapter of tenant advocacy group ACORN, called for a moratorium on evictions and rent increases similar to what we saw during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taylor pulled no punches in declaring that ”we are in the middle of an unprecedented housing affordability crisis,” with rising rent costs leaving workers to choose between food or shelter. Housing problems are further exacerbated by a general lack of repairs, maintenance, and quality standards for rental properties across Canada.
While politicians like Pierre Poilievre and Tim Houston boast about “building more homes,” the existence of more buildings alone cannot solve the problem, and especially not through incentivizing developers with landlord-friendly provisions, like Doug Ford’s rolling back of rent control in Ontario.
”The solution to the housing crisis cannot be left to the private sector alone,” Taylor said while calling for more Rent-Geared-to-Income apartments and social housing. Taylor further called for a national rent control program that will keep housing affordable and accessible to all.
Taylor was not the only one to call for an eviction moratorium and better regulation of rents. Anita Agrawal, the CEO of Canadian small business Jewels4Ever, pointed out that the lack of regulations on commercial rents is a constant threat to small businesses everywhere that will only get worse during this time of economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, government subsidies for big businesses like Amazon and Walmart are ensuring that the rich get richer while small businesses suffer.
“Buying Canadian” has been making the rounds as a way of supporting businesses. But for Agrawal, this is not enough.
“It’s a temporary solution,” Agrawal said in reference to calls to “Buy Canadian,” adding, “I would need thousands of people to buy from me every day” in order to offset the effects of the tariffs. Instead, Agrawal called for better regulation of commercial rents.
Certainly, tenants have a lot more at stake than small businesses when it comes to housing. However, the root problem of landlords squeezing renters remains the same, and across the board, the solution is rent freezes and an eviction moratorium.
No workers left behind
The “No One Left Behind” campaign is a refreshing worker-first take on the looming economic crisis. Thursday’s press conference showed that the consequences of the tariffs will be felt most acutely by workers, not businesses and corporations. While our government has been focused on creating retaliatory tariffs and pushing the “buying Canadian” messaging, what we actually need are more income supports, cheaper housing, an eviction moratorium, and permanent status for all immigrants.
As our federal and provincial governments continue responding to American tariffs, the bottom line is clear: any response to the tariffs must put workers first and ensure that no one is left behind.
Join the “No One Left Behind” campaign’s emergency pan-Canadian Town Hall on March 12 (4:00pm PT / 5:00pm MT / 6:00pm CT / 7:00pm ET / 8:00pm AT / 8:30pm NL).
For more on the campaign and a full list of demands, please click here.
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