Weekly Roundup - September 18, 2026
Top Federal Stories
Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Europe this week, ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday. He attended European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s address to the European Parliament on Wednesday where she said she wants Europe to work with him on opening the door for Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member. The status does not currently exist in the EU treaties. Von der Leyen framed it as moving beyond the existing relationship to an “alliance for the future” covering intelligent manufacturing, a tech alliance, integrated defence industrial bases, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals and batteries, and AI, quantum, cyber and economic security. Carney welcomed the ambition, saying Canada envisions a “unique alliance” that goes beyond the CETA pact.
Carney addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday making the case for Canadian membership in Erasmus+ and in the next Horizon program, an integrated financial services market, youth mobility and seamless digital trade in non-agricultural goods. He framed the aspiration not as an effort to become a great-power rival but as an effort to ensure resilience, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the integrity of freedoms, democracy and the rule of law.
At a news conference afterward Carney tempered enthusiasm for integration, saying Canada “is not in a position or seeking to become a full member.” Trump called the prospect “laughable” and said that if he judged it “a hostile act” he would put “very serious tariffs” on Europe. Carney has committed to a parliamentary vote on the final structure. The Canada-EU summit in Montreal is October 29 and 30.
The first Canada Investment Summit ran in Toronto on September 14 and 15. The government touted nearly $500 billion in what it calls new commitments coming out of the summit. The largest items include TD’s $150 billion and Scotiabank’s more than $100 billion in financing over five years and BMO’s $70 billion over ten, aimed at energy, critical minerals, defence and aerospace, digital and AI, and infrastructure, plus Ontario Teachers’ $10 billion across public and private markets. Bell and the Government of Saskatchewan signed a non-binding agreement valued at up to $52.5 billion for a 1.2-gigawatt AI hub, which Ottawa and Bell call the largest capital investment in the province’s history.
In an effort to entice investment in Canada, the government announced the Productivity Mega Deduction, which once enacted would allow companies to immediately deduct the full costs of investments on a wide range of assets, such as fibre-optic cable, mining property, oil and gas pipelines, software, computer equipment, aircraft and vehicles, patents, rail track, bridges and roads. Finance Canada costs it at $36 billion over five years. Champagne separately announced priority tax rulings for investments over $1 billion. Carney also opened the four largest airports to private investment through long-term concessions, with Ottawa keeping ownership and directing proceeds to regional airports, local transport and a sovereign broadband backbone.
America’s expanded tariff measures began on September 15, adding 122 tariff classifications (though 10 were removed). The same proclamations narrowed the exemption for goods already subject to Section 232, so wood products and some steel and aluminum classifications now pay the 50 per cent on top of their Section 232 duty. On September 16 Trump signed a memorandum directing officials to identify Canadian goods in federal civil procurement that could be removed. Import bans on packaged alcohol, dairy goods and motorcycles over 800 cc come into force on September 29.
The House returns Monday with six seats vacant. The Liberals maintain a healthy parliamentary majority, with no real threat to their hold on power. Budget 2026 is due this fall following the budget consultation process that closed earlier this month. Major economic legislation on supply chains and productivity is also expected when the House returns.
The Conservatives met in Penticton on September 16 and 17, where Poilievre told caucus that their “duty is country before party,” and to reflect on “the job [they] have as [the] loyal Opposition in these challenging times.” Angus Reid polling from September 2 to 7 put the Liberals at 46 per cent to 32 and Poilievre’s favourability at a new low of 32. The New Democrats hold just five seats as they return to Parliament on Monday. Party leader Avi Lewis, who does not have a seat in Parliament, spent the week opposing Carney’s airport plan, saying Canada’s airports are “not for sale.”
In a byelection upset, the Alberta NDP flipped Calgary-Shaw, a riding long considered a reliable conservative seat. Kyle Campbell received 7,461 votes, defeating UCP candidate Mike Derry by 582 votes on roughly 38 percent turnout. The Premier’s Office pointed to low turnout and a divided conservative vote as the reason for the result. New West Partner Michael Solberg called the result “astonishing” and said the October referendum has become an “albatross” for the government. Whether the result was a one-time protest or a sign of a broader shift remains unclear, but it puts the UCP’s support in Calgary under closer watch.
Meanwhile, Premier Danielle Smith attended the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, along with Minister Nixon, Minister Schow, Minister Glubish, Minister Sawyer and representatives from Invest Alberta and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, where they promoted 34 investment-ready projects. The summit generated nearly $500 billion in commitments across Canada, although no Alberta-specific investments are known yet.
On Wednesday, the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy released its Government of Alberta-commissioned report on the potential costs of separation. The report estimates establishing an independent Alberta could cost between $50 billion and $170 billion in the first five years. Under its more difficult scenario, Alberta’s economy could be more than 16 percent smaller after 20 years, employment nearly 5 percent lower, and the province could face annual deficits exceeding $30 billion.
Separately, Angus Reid released its latest premiers’ performance polling, which placed Premier Smith’s approval at 38 percent, unchanged from June.
According to a leaked cabinet document, the Government of Alberta has explored measures to increase natural gas pipeline capacity for AI data centres and oil and gas production, including legislative changes, two new Crown corporations, and powers to direct private companies to make certain investments. The government says internal materials routinely examine a range of options and do not represent final decisions. Smith has downplayed the likelihood of creating a Crown corporation but has not ruled out measures requiring companies to expand pipeline capacity.
Top Ontario Stories
Stellantis announced on September 11 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Canadian armoured vehicle maker Roshel on a potential sale of its idled Brampton assembly plant, resulting in a pause to ongoing contract talks with Unifor. Brampton stopped building vehicles in 2023, its retooling for the Jeep Compass was paused in early 2025, and in October 2025 Stellantis moved the model to Illinois. Roshel says it would open a defence manufacturing centre on the site, bring more than 2,000 jobs to Canada and give laid-off Unifor members first consideration for work under the federal Light Utility Vehicle program. Roshel is one of two shortlisted bidders for that $4.9 billion contract.
Both the Ontario and federal governments are pressing Stellantis to build a new vehicle at the plant. On September 16 Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa will apply “maximum pressure” for a new model or will otherwise pursue recovery of funds given to the company under a 2022 agreement to support retooling at Brampton and Windsor. Ford echoed the call, saying “we need a model […] to go in there.” Unifor national president Lana Payne was blunter on Thursday, warning “Stellantis is 100 per cent serious about exiting Brampton.”
In response to the latest round of U.S. tariffs that took effect this week, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack told Ontario’s 444 municipalities in a letter that buying Canadian, and Ontario first, “is not optional,” calling it an “absolute must.” Failure to meet the requirements, set out in a municipal directive under the Buy Ontario Act, may force the province to reconsider municipal funding. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which puts municipal buying at more than $22 billion a year, reports no widespread non-compliance. It says non-construction purchasing is more than 98 per cent from businesses with Canadian addresses, though many of them are subsidiaries of American firms, and that the rules add “time, cost and complexity.”
On data centres, municipal councils continue to move. Mississauga voted unanimously on Wednesday to freeze new projects drawing 10 megawatts or more, for up to one year. Prologis, the firm behind a project it puts at 40 megawatts, says it may appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Similarly, Oakville passed a freeze last month and Sault Ste. Marie votes September 21 on a 50-megawatt freeze, while Hamilton, Burlington and Milton rejected moratoriums but ordered studies. Consultation on the province’s draft Data Centre Playbook, which would inform grid-connection decisions, closed September 12, with a final version due this fall alongside the government’s AI Industrial Strategy.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association became the first of the major teachers’ unions to schedule a strike vote, for November 12 and 13, with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario following on Friday and setting a November 9 to 18 window. Contracts expired August 31 and bargaining is stalled across the major unions over which issues belong at central rather than local tables, a dispute the unions have taken to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Education Minister Paul Calandra’s office says the province is “ready to begin” negotiations once that concludes. Both votes fall two weeks after MPPs return on October 27.
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