Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says all City of Toronto contracts valued at less than $353,000 will now be awarded to Canadian firms only amid a trade war with the United States.
Chow made the comments at an unrelated transit news conference on Thursday morning.
She also said she plans to put forward a motion to executive committee and to council that will see U.S. companies barred from future Toronto contracts, if approved.
“There are many, many great options to choose from and the City of Toronto is doing our part by awarding contracts to local firms,” she said.
Chow said while U.S. contracts only make up about 10 per cent of the City’s $60 billion capital budget, we must stay “strong in our principles.”
“On principle, we believe in buying local because any contract that is under $353,000 there is no reason why we have to shop outside of Canada. We are barring any American companies from any Toronto contracts in the future,” she said.
“I believe Torontonians are smart. We are strong in AI, in tech. We are creative, we have the experience, we are highly educated, so we can deal with our own contracts. We don’t have to go to American companies.”
Chow said the city is taking a “Team Canada approach” when it comes to the ongoing trade war with our neighbours to the south.
As proud Canadians I think we are united in saying that we will never back down. There is no way that we will be the 51st state,” she said.
She acknowledged that it may end up costing the city “a bit more” to shop Canadian.
“We haven’t had the financial analysis yet, but I think it is important that we stay strong in our principles and not shop American,” she said.
Premier Doug Ford previously announced that Ontario would be barring American companies from government procurement in retaliation for the U.S. tariffs.
“U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in revenues,” Ford said earlier this week. “They only have President Trump to blame.”
He also called on all 444 municipalities across Ontario to follow suit and implement similar bans at the local level.
