For manufacturers caught in a fast-moving North American trade fight, four months can feel like an eternity. Canadian industry representatives say some companies that applied for federal tariff assistance in May were still waiting for a response in September, raising questions about whether emergency business support can move quickly enough to match the pressures hitting factory floors and balance sheets.
The complaint comes as Ottawa dramatically expands the money available through its Regional Tariff Response Initiative. Billions of dollars are now earmarked for liquidity, investment and diversification. Yet in manufacturing communities such as Windsor-Essex, industry groups argue that the size of the program matters less when companies facing immediate cash-flow problems still do not know when an application will be decided.
A May Application Can Still Be Waiting in September
The clearest criticism has come from the Canadian Association of Moldmakers, whose executive director, Nicole Vlanich, said companies were waiting after submitting applications in May without receiving responses. The Windsor-based association represents businesses involved in mould making, tooling, machining and related advanced manufacturing. These are companies that often operate deep inside North American supply chains rather than selling finished consumer products under household names. That makes them particularly sensitive when cross-border orders slow, tariffs increase costs or customers postpone projects.
Ryan Donally, president and CEO of the Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce, has raised a similar concern. He estimated that more than 100 businesses in the region had applied for assistance under the Regional Tariff Response Initiative and argued that support needs to arrive faster. That figure is an industry estimate rather than an official federal count, but the concern behind it is straightforward: an assistance program designed for businesses facing an immediate trade disruption has less value if a company must finance months of payroll, rent and operating expenses while waiting for a decision.
Ottawa’s Tariff Program Has Grown Rapidly
Federal support has expanded substantially since the first version of the Regional Tariff Response Initiative was announced. Ottawa initially committed $450 million to regional development agencies in March 2025. By September 2025, the federal government had increased the planned national initiative to $1 billion over three years. Another $500 million was announced in May 2026, bringing planned RTRI investment to $1.5 billion as trade pressures spread through industries using steel, aluminum and copper.
The response grew again after the latest U.S. tariff escalation. Ottawa announced another $1.5 billion for the initiative in August, and current federal program material says regional development agencies are delivering $3.45 billion over four years. The expansion forms part of a broader $7.5-billion package that includes $500 million in additional Business Development Bank of Canada liquidity financing, a $2-billion Canada Strong Diversification Fund and $3.5 billion in worker and employer supports. The numbers show that Ottawa has added resources repeatedly; the dispute is increasingly about how quickly individual firms can access them.
Windsor-Essex Shows Both Sides of the Funding Story
The complaints about delays do not mean federal tariff-related money has stopped flowing into Windsor-Essex. In May, FedDev Ontario announced more than $20 million for 14 businesses in the region, including automotive suppliers, mould makers, machining companies, packaging businesses and other manufacturers. Individual contributions ranged from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $6 million, with projects aimed at automation, advanced equipment, diversification and higher production capacity.
That distinction matters. Some Windsor-Essex companies are already receiving federal investment while another group says its applications remain unresolved. The region therefore illustrates both the scale of government intervention and the difficulty of processing assistance across a manufacturing base facing rapidly changing conditions. Windsor-Essex is heavily connected to automotive, tooling and advanced manufacturing supply chains that stretch across the Canada-U.S. border. For a company buying a new machine to diversify into aerospace or defence, a longer approval process may be manageable. For another company trying to preserve payroll after orders disappear, the same delay can become a much more immediate financial problem.
The Trade Fight Has Become More Expensive
The urgency increased significantly in August. U.S. measures imposed an additional 50 per cent duty on specified Canadian products under Section 338, with the duties taking effect on August 22 following a temporary three-day postponement. Canadian government calculations put the affected trade covered by that round of U.S. measures at approximately $27.6 billion. The measures came on top of an already complicated collection of sector-specific tariffs affecting North American manufacturing and trade.
Canada responded with counter-tariffs that took effect September 8. Ottawa imposed rates of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on selected U.S. products, with the government saying the measures covered approximately $27.6 billion of imports. Products affected include goods in areas such as steel and aluminum, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, dairy and electronics. Canadian officials describe the U.S. measures as unjustified, while the U.S. administration says its actions respond to Canadian trade practices it considers discriminatory. For businesses caught between those competing positions, however, the practical result is more expensive and unpredictable cross-border commerce.
The New Program Tries to Solve the Cash-Flow Problem
Ottawa’s September redesign of the Regional Tariff Response Initiative acknowledges that affected companies may need something more immediate than money for future expansion. Businesses can now seek liquidity assistance of up to $2 million in non-repayable support, normally covering up to 50 per cent of eligible costs. The assistance is designed to help tariff-affected firms maintain Canadian operations and employment while they manage a temporary financial shock.
Federal guidance says liquidity assistance is calculated primarily using 50 per cent of average eligible monthly payroll for a period of up to 12 months, subject to demonstrated need and the $2-million ceiling. Certain essential expenses such as rent, utilities, business insurance and property taxes may also be considered. Separately, businesses can seek non-repayable support of up to $1 million for eligible “pivot” projects involving productivity, technology, supply-chain resilience or market diversification. Larger transformative projects can qualify for repayable assistance. An eligible firm can receive as much as $3 million in combined non-repayable liquidity and pivot support, while total RTRI funding can reach $20 million when repayable financing is included.
More Funding Has Also Meant More Complexity
The program’s repeated expansion has created another problem identified by manufacturers: rules and application processes have changed while companies have already been trying to secure assistance. Vlanich said changing applications and criteria have produced uncertainty for firms that submitted requests under an earlier version of the initiative and are unsure how the newer streams affect their existing applications. She also pointed to multiple contacts across different programs and levels of government as a source of frustration.
FedDev Ontario, meanwhile, has said it is making efforts to process applications as quickly as possible. The agency did not provide the news organization reporting the manufacturers’ concerns with a standard waiting time or the number of applications currently under review. Federal agencies have also rolled out new guidance, online application information and information sessions to explain the expanded program. The problem is therefore less about whether an assistance structure exists and more about matching a relatively detailed application-and-assessment system with businesses that say their financial pressures are happening now.
The National Shock Is Concentrated but Significant
Canada’s economy is not being affected uniformly. BDC Economics estimated in September that more than 25,000 Canadian businesses operate in sectors covered by the latest U.S. measures and that approximately 5,500 export to the United States. Smaller businesses account for more than two out of every five firms identified as directly exposed. BDC argues that these companies generally have less ability than major corporations to spread production among facilities, absorb lower margins or negotiate across a large portfolio of customers.
Recent trade statistics reinforce the mixed picture. Statistics Canada reported that merchandise exports to the United States fell 6.6 per cent in July, the largest monthly percentage decrease since April 2025, although crude oil and gold were major contributors to the drop. At the same time, exports to countries other than the United States rose 7.4 per cent to a record $25.6 billion. The Bank of Canada has similarly found that export expectations have improved for some businesses even as trade uncertainty and tariff-related costs continue affecting particular industries.
Diversification Is Possible, but It Cannot Happen Overnight
Ottawa increasingly describes diversification, productivity investment and stronger domestic supply chains as the long-term answer to trade vulnerability. There is evidence that some Canadian firms are adjusting. Businesses have reported changing production and shipping arrangements, looking for different industries and pursuing customers outside the United States. Statistics Canada’s record level of non-U.S. merchandise exports in July demonstrates that Canadian trade is not standing still.
Yet diversification is considerably harder for a specialized manufacturer than simply finding a new buyer. Bank of Canada consultations found that most exporters selling into the United States had not materially diversified their trade relationships, with firms pointing to transportation costs and other barriers to reaching distant markets. Canadian mould makers have emphasized another challenge: their products sit within deeply integrated North American manufacturing chains in which tooling, components and specialized work may repeatedly cross the border. That explains why manufacturers are asking for both things at once — investment that helps them build new markets over time and quicker liquidity support that gives them enough breathing room to reach that future.
