More than 2,000 Brampton autoworkers have been laid off since Stellantis idled their plant. Its planned Jeep Compass went to Illinois. In October 2025 Ottawa halved Stellantis's quota of US-built vehicles free of Canada's 2025 tariff, citing broken commitments. The US points to such cuts in its case for the August 22 tariffs. Stellantis may sell the plant, and Unifor blames the plan for a bargaining impasse. President Trump has announced a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian cars for 2027.
Drivers in Canadian cities paid an average of C$1.87 a litre for regular gasoline in the week ending September 15, 2026. It was C$1.40 in the week ending February 24, 2026, four days before US and Israeli strikes on Iran began a war. Canada exports oil, but its refiners pay world prices, and oil-producing provinces collect more revenue. The International Energy Agency put the Persian Gulf's August oil exports at nearly half the prewar level. No official negotiations are under way.
Canadian and American importers are paying tariffs, taxes on imports, on billions of dollars of each other's goods. Some of that cost can reach shoppers. Canada suspended trade talks on August 21, 2026. Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke of 'walking away from a bad deal'. The U.S. trade representative says Canada 'walked away from a near-final trade deal'. Some measures are in force, others only scheduled or announced. U.S. bans on some Canadian goods are scheduled for September 29, 2026.
The European Union's top official, Ursula von der Leyen, invited Canada to become its first 'associate member', a status the two sides would have to invent. Prime Minister Mark Carney has spent months pulling Canada closer to Europe as the US trade war drags on. Two pieces are already real: a trade deal and access to Europe's defence-buying fund. What the new label would mean, from jobs to visa-free travel, should take shape at an October summit in Montreal.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy came to Canada in September and signed a 100-year partnership declaration with Prime Minister Carney: air-defence money, winter energy loans, and a plan to build millions of drones with a third pledged to Ukraine. The declaration records intentions; the binding pieces are separate contracts and loans, and delivery timelines are unpublished. Watch September 28 and 29, when Toronto hosts a conference on bringing home Ukraine's deported children.
