Across Ontario, working people are watching good, unionized jobs disappear, and too often, it’s happening after corporations have already received significant public investments.
This week in Sudbury, OFL President Laura Walton presented at the Ontario government’s pre-budget consultations, calling on the province to change course and ensure public investment actually delivers for workers and communities.
Recent layoffs at Algoma, followed closely by the announcement that up to 1,200 workers will be laid off at General Motor’ Oshawa Assembly plant, along with other job losses across the province are raising serious concerns about how public dollars are being used and who is left to absorb the consequences when corporations restructure or walk away. Ontarians and Canadians have fronted these companies with public money, only to be left footing the bill when jobs disappear and local economies are destabilized.
We heard similar concerns raised yesterday in the health sector. The decision by LifeLabs to end laboratory testing in Greater Sudbury, resulting in the loss of dozens of good union jobs is just another example of what happens when public funding is not tied to workforce stability, training, and local service delivery.
Public investment plays an important role in Ontario’s economy. But investment without accountability is not a strategy, it is a transfer of risk from corporations to workers and communities. When public dollars are used to support private companies, those investments must come with clear, enforceable conditions that protect jobs, strengthen local economies, and deliver real public benefit.
That means it is time for Ontario to move beyond vague commitments and have serious conversations about accountability, including job protection requirements, reinvestment obligations, meaningful penalties when commitments are broken, and stronger public safeguards when taxpayer dollars are on the line.
Whether in the GTA or in Northern communities like Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie, which OFL visited in December 2025 as part of the OFL Power Plan phase 1 pilot project, workers are asking for the same thing: plans, not promises. Short term and long-term strategies that ensure public investment builds stable jobs, resilient communities, and a stronger province.
Ontario Cannot continue down a path where public money supports private decisions that leaves workers worse off. It’s time Ford government step up, take responsibility for the outcomes of its economic choices, and deliver a budget that puts accountability, workers, and community first.
The OFL sent in a full submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on January 30, 2026. Please find the submission here.
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