While the Headlines Talked Doom, Ontario Made Three Investments That Should Have Been Front Page
- Shannon Peel
- Aug 15, 2025
- 6 min read
Published | August 15, 2025 | Shannon Peel, MarketAPeel*
The trade war narrative wants you to believe Canada is in economic freefall. Tariffs. Layoffs. Uncertainty. The headlines are relentless and they are designed to keep you reading, not to keep you informed.
On August 15, 2025 alone, three significant announcements came out of Ontario that barely made a ripple in the doom-and-gloom news cycle, but carry real implications for workers, businesses, and anyone paying attention to where the jobs and contracts will be.
Thunder Bay is Building Toronto 70 Subway Trains
The Toronto Transit Commission announced on August 15 that the federal government, the province of Ontario, and the City of Toronto had given the TTC the green light to pursue a single-source contract with Alstom Transport Canada Inc. for 70 new six-car subway trains for Line 2.
The base procurement is for 70 six-car train sets in total, 55 to replace aging trains on Line 2, and 15 trains for the Yonge North and Scarborough extensions. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the city is "partnering with both provincial and federal governments to buy new trains to keep TTC riders moving."
The decision to sole-source to Alstom was explicitly framed as a Canadian jobs decision. The TTC's single-source decision aimed to secure Canadian manufacturing jobs while ensuring reliable new subway trains for Toronto riders — a direct response to the US tariff environment that had made a competitive international process less viable.
Update on the August Alstom & TTC Announcement Jan 2026
By January 2026, Alstom and the TTC had finalized the agreement. The contract is worth approximately $2.3 billion Canadian. The subway cars will be built in Thunder Bay, Ontario, tested in Kingston, and are expected to create up to 945 jobs.
Read that again... 945 Jobs in Ontario. It's still short of the 3000 plus automotive layoffs, and they aren't in the same city, but still.
Alstom is the company that acquired Bombardier's rail manufacturing division, so the same Thunder Bay plant that built the trains you rode before will be building the ones that replace them. It's just a difference in ownership brand name not quality or capability.
Unifor national president Lana Payne called the decision a signal: "This decision to formally award this contract to Alstom speaks volumes with respect to how we must support Canadian workers, local industries, economies and communities. We need to see more of this if we are to build a more resilient Canadian economy."
What building train cars in Ontario means for you
If you live in the Thunder Bay region and you are looking for work, or if you are a business that supplies manufacturing operations, Alstom's Thunder Bay plant is about to get significantly busier. The contract includes options for up to 150 additional train sets beyond the initial 70. That is a multi-year employment story, not a one-time contract.
If you are in trades, manufacturing, quality control, logistics, or any of the supply chain functions that feed a transit manufacturing facility, this is the time to be putting your resume in front of Alstom. The work is coming.
Billions Invested in Training Ontario Workers
Also announced on August 15, Premier Doug Ford confirmed that the Ontario government was investing more than $2.8 million through the Skills Development Fund Training Stream to help people in Durham Region find employment in construction, manufacturing, and skilled trades.
"In the face of President Trump's tariffs and the economic uncertainty they are causing, our government will always have the backs of Ontario workers," said Premier Doug Ford. "By investing in training programs in Durham Region, we're protecting Ontario workers by helping them get the skills they need to land better jobs and bigger paycheques."
The Durham announcement was one piece of a much larger picture. The Ontario government had expanded its Skills Development Fund by nearly $1 billion over three years, for a total of $2.5 billion, specifically designed to help train and reskill Ontario workers, including those directly impacted by tariff-related layoffs.
Since its launch in 2021, Ontario's SDF has supported over 1,000 training projects across the province with the aim of connecting over 700,000 people with training for better jobs.
What the Ontario Upskilling Investment Means for You
If you are an Ontario worker who has been laid off or is worried about the direction of your industry, this fund exists to help you pivot. It covers manufacturing, construction, skilled trades, healthcare, and other sectors where Ontario needs workers.
If you are thinking about a trade but do not have the prerequisite courses, start by calling your MPP. Ask specifically about the Skills Development Fund and what programs are available in your region. The money is there. Most people who could access it do not know it exists because they are reading the headlines instead of the press releases.
And if you are a business or organization in Ontario that provides skills training, the SDF Training Stream Round 6 applications opened July 29, 2025. If you have not looked at applying for funding to run a training program, this is worth your time.
Federal Investment in Ontario's Electricity Grid
On the same day, Federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson announced in Markham more than $13 million in federal funding to support five clean energy projects in Ontario focused on modernizing the provincial electricity grid.
"This is how Canada becomes an energy superpower, by working with partners and by investing in the modernization and optimization of our electricity system. These efforts are essential to creating a more reliable and resilient network and reducing electricity bills for Canadians," said Minister Hodgson.
The funding is flowing through the Energy Innovation Program, Smart Grids Demonstration Call for Proposals, supporting projects that advance clean electricity generation and allow customer-owned devices such as solar panels and batteries to access and benefit from electricity markets.
The grid modernization story is bigger than this single announcement. Ontario is in a sustained period of electricity infrastructure investment, driven by electrification demand from EVs, data centres, industrial reshoring, and the housing build-out that is underway across the province. Doug Ford has also been signalling interest in additional nuclear capacity, which if it moves forward will represent one of the most significant construction projects in Canadian history and will require significant skilled trades employment.
What this Federal Investment in Ontario Electricty Means for You
If you have ever thought about a career as an electrical lineman, this is the moment to take it seriously. Grid modernization and expansion requires people who can build, maintain, and upgrade electrical infrastructure. Lineman apprenticeships are competitive but the career is excellent, stable, well-paid, essential work regardless of economic cycles.
If you are a business that provides products or services to utilities, energy companies, or electrical contractors, the Ontario grid investment pipeline is multi-year and federally backed. Find out which utilities are receiving funding and what procurement processes they are running for the projects those funds are supporting.
The Pattern Worth Recognizing
Three announcements. One day. One province.
A $2.3 billion train manufacturing contract that will create 945 jobs in Thunder Bay. A $2.5 billion skills training fund with $2.8 million flowing to Durham that same day. Thirteen million dollars in federal grid modernization funding for five Ontario clean energy projects.
None of these are the whole story of Ontario's economy. The tariff pressure on manufacturing is real. The automotive supply chain challenges are real. The uncertainty is real.
But the narrative that government is sitting on its hands while the trade war grinds away at Canadian workers is not accurate. The press releases tell a different story than the headlines and the difference between the two is where most people miss the opportunities that are right in front of them.
The jobs are coming. The contracts are flowing. The training funds exist.
The question is whether you are reading the press releases or just the headlines.
Shannon Peel is a Brand Narrative Strategist and the founder of MarketAPeel. She builds strategic brand narrative ecosystems that help organizations earn authority, credibility, and citations in the age of AI search. She writes about brand strategy, marketing, GEO, business, and the Canadian economy.
**Note on the grid funding figure:** The federal investment announced August 15 was $13 million not $13 billion as stated in my original video. An easy verbal slip when recording. The figure is corrected here to reflect the actual press release.
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