Ontario’s fall economic update shows sharp job losses after Trump’s tariffs

The 2025 economic update put some figures on the damage to Ontario’s economy from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as the province says they have sharply cut into the number of people finding jobs in the province.

The figures show new jobs are still being created despite the tariff war, but the number of new jobs is down sharply from what was expected before the tariffs hit.

With the government releasing its economic update, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was being grilled in the legislature over jobs.

“Will the premier face the truth — accept that he has created a job disaster in this province,” said Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles.

The premier argues there are a million new jobs in the province, but that’s since the government was first elected in 2018.

“One million new jobs, remember that,” said Ford.

But Stiles is talking about a new reality, saying “in September alone we lost 12,500 retail jobs, 7,300 jobs in construction, 7,100 jobs in public administration.”

The government’s economic update shows a grim picture, which says job growth declined in the second quarter of the year and that followed Trump’s tariffs.

The job growth figures in the update show the number of jobs in Ontario in 2025 growing at a rate of 0.9 per cent.

That’s down sharply from 1.7 per cent in 2024, and even fewer new jobs are expected in 2026, with projected growth of only 0.4 per cent.

READ MORE: Ontario eyes challenging labour market amid tariffs, lower population growth

McMaster University Economist Colin Mang says along with lower growth from immigration in the labour market, tariffs are remaking the Canadian economy.

“We’re seeing manufacturers really struggle in the face of uncertainty over what the future’s going to look like,” said Mang. “Most goods going to the United States are still going in tariff-free, but there have been a lot of changes in trade relations. A lot of uncertainty going into the free trade negotiations next year, and that’s going to mean that businesses are hesitant to hire workers in the next year.”

Ontario’s Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says they’ve already been investing in new projects to create jobs, including areas like Algoma Steel and nuclear plants.

“We’re also speeding up the construction of projects,” said Bethlenfalvy. “There is a lot of uncertainty out there and I’ve talked to a lot of workers who are concerned, and that’s why some of the announcements we’ve made in the last couple of weeks are giving hope to a lot of workers.”

“Youth unemployment is high, opportunities are shrinking, and people are being left behind,” said the Liberal Parliamentary Leader John Fraser. “The government had the resources to act — they simply chose not to.”

The opposition in the legislature says the government hasn’t actually come up with a new plan to create jobs.

“While workers and their families are lying awake at night worrying about layoffs and plant closures, this premier still has no jobs plan,” said Stiles.

The government says industries like manufacturing and transportation are among those badly hit by tariffs, leading to the decline in jobs.

WATCH MORE: Ontario finance minister set to table fall fiscal update