Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that Algoma Steel Inc. will receive up to $ 420 million to modernize its operations and phase out coal-based steelmaking processes at its Ontario plant.
The funding will enable the company to purchase state-of-the-art equipment to support the transition to electric arc furnace steelmaking. This green electricity-based process is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3 million tonnes per year by 2030, significantly contributing to Canada's climate goals. This is equivalent to taking over 900,000 passenger cars off the road - almost the same number of passenger cars in Toronto.
As part of this investment, Algoma Steel will receive up to $ 200 million from the Strategic Innovation Fund's Net Zero Accelerator and $ 220 million from Canada Infrastructure Bank.
The investment will create 500 well-paying construction and subcontracting jobs, as well as over 600 new co-op locations for students. In addition, 75 Algoma employees will receive government-funded training to obtain qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
At Algoma Steel Inc. employs approximately 2,600 Canadians and is the only fully integrated steel sheet manufacturer in Canada, making it the regional leader in hot rolled and cold rolled steel sheet, strip and plate.
The steel industry currently accounts for 7% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector, which is equal to global emissions from aviation, shipping and chemicals combined.
Canada's steel industry employed more than 25,000 workers in 2019 and had a gross domestic product of $ 3.8 billion.
