Ontario’s manufacturing sector is standing at a hinge moment. Global trade rules are shifting, tariffs are tightening, and technology is transforming how and where we build.
At Survive and Thrive: Manufacturing in the Age of Tariffs, business leaders, policymakers, and educators examined how Ontario can strengthen its manufacturing base and stay competitive as the rules are rewritten. Phil Jennings, Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, opened with a challenge: “Our task now is to turn pressure into productivity, to channel today’s trade headwinds into long-term capacity.”
Hallie Siegel, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Robotics Council, said technology adoption is within reach for smaller firms. “The tools are here,” she said. Ontario, she added, needs to start scaling the success stories already taking shape on factory floors.
Flavio Volpe, President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, spoke about the realities of Canada’s trade relationship with the United States, one defined by deep integration and shared stakes. “We’re in a marriage we can’t get a divorce from,” he said, urging patience as the U.S. continues to negotiate trade and investment deals around the world.
The Board’s President and CEO, Giles Gherson, built on that point. “We’ve got to be patient,” he said. “Let them exhaust themselves, and when the impact starts to be felt in the U.S. itself, we’ll be ready.”
Lead with discipline and patienceTariffs and trade friction continue to test Canada’s resolve. The path forward is not to react, but to respond with steady investment, long-term thinking, and confidence in Ontario’s ability to adapt and compete in a tougher, faster world.
Compete through productivity, not protectionOntario’s competitiveness will depend on disciplined investment and the confidence to build capacity at home. The focus must shift from insulating against global pressures to driving productivity through cost efficiency, faster approvals, and policies that reward firms for making and scaling here.
Turn adoption into momentumThe technology needed to compete already exists within Ontario’s reach. The challenge now is to move faster, turning pilots into practice and early adopters into industry leaders. Success will come from coordination, shared learning, and the will to scale what already works.
Build capacity through peopleGrowth depends as much on talent as on capital. Ontario’s workforce remains its greatest advantage, but keeping that edge will require stronger collaboration between educators and employers to close skills gaps, modernize training, and prepare workers for advanced manufacturing.
5% vs. 25%
Manufacturers using AI in production: roughly five per cent in Canada compared with one in four in the United States, according to Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation — a gap that highlights how far behind Canada’s adoption still is.
~60%
The percentage of Canadian manufacturers who say they do not know where to begin with training for digital adoption.
2 in 5
Firms that worry they have not adopted enough technology to stay competitive.
3 million → ~1 million
Approximate decline in Ontario’s annual vehicle production over the past two decades.
“Canada’s manufacturing advantage has always come from making complex things well. What’s changing now is the speed at which we have to make them. Cost matters, but speed is the new competitiveness.”
- Linda Hasenfratz, Executive Chair, Linamar Corporation
“When we talk about technology adoption, it’s not about replacing people. It’s about freeing up the time and talent we already have to focus on what humans do best — creativity, judgment, and problem-solving.”
- Wendy Andrushko, President, Qnity
“Canada isn’t short on ideas. It’s short on investment per worker. Productivity comes from putting more capital behind every job — more tools, more technology, more modern equipment — not from working harder with less.”
- Robert Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
“Building a strong industrial base requires both capital and talent. The first attracts attention, the second sustains it. Partner with your local college, co-design curricula, offer co-ops and research challenges, and you’ll get graduates ready to help build next-generation manufacturing in Ontario — not someday, but now.”
- Dr. Craig Stephenson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Centennial College
“Defence is a catalyst for innovation. Every dollar that goes into advanced manufacturing for defence drives digital adoption, cybersecurity, and the supply chain upgrades that make the whole economy more competitive.”
- Berardino Baratta, Chief Executive Officer, MxD Chicago
