By The Canadian Press

Ottawa accused of preferential treatment with coming rail subsidies for steel, lumber

Mar 5, 2026 | 2:09 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government is being accused of creating an uneven playing field in Canada’s shipping industry.

Later this spring, Ottawa is expected to launch a program to subsidize interprovincial rail shipments of steel and lumber by up to 50 per cent.

The move was announced in November by Prime Minister Mark Carney as a way to foster domestic supply chains to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs on those sectors.

But some of Canada’s maritime shipping companies are criticizing the move because the subsidies aren’t being extended to their businesses — only to rail companies.

In the House of Commons last week, Bloc Québécois MP Claude DeBellefeuille said the government was creating “unfair competition between rail transportation and marine transportation,” putting jobs and supply chains at risk.

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The move also puts at a disadvantage construction projects in Canada’s Arctic, where no rail lines exist into Nunavut and materials are all brought in by cargo ships.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2026.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press