Maple Express | September 29, 2026 — U.S. Ban on US$1 Billion of Canadian Imports Takes Effect

1. U.S. ban on US$1 billion worth of Canadian imports goes into effect

The United States went ahead early Tuesday with a ban on nearly US$1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles — a move expected to further strain already tense U.S.-Canada relations. CP24 reports the ban amounts to barely a ripple in the $880 billion in annual two-way trade between the two neighbours, but it marks another escalation of President Donald Trump's second-term trade war.

Trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official, said the import ban “certainly won't do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada.” He noted the banned products were already facing 50 per cent tariffs, saying that for many of these goods the tariff was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation uneconomical.

Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the American Action Forum think tank, calculates the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports based on 2025 numbers, 87 per cent of which would be alcoholic beverages. Quebec's Bombardier Recreational Products confirmed its three-wheel Can-Am Spyder and Canyon motorcycles “will be excluded from importation into the U.S.,” though the impact likely won't be felt until next year. A spokesman for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa's priority remains protecting Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses.

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2. 'I'm furious': Hamilton mayor slams Stelco decision to lay off 350 workers

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath on Tuesday blasted Stelco Holdings' decision to lay off as many as 350 workers from its Hamilton steel plant, calling it devastating for those affected. “I'm furious. These tariffs are very, very difficult for our community,” she said on CTV's Your Morning, pointing to the U.S. 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel that took effect Aug. 22.

The union representing the plant's steelworkers, United Steelworkers Local 1005, confirmed the layoffs to CTV News on Monday. A spokesperson for the American-owned manufacturer told BNN it is idling finishing operations in Hamilton while concentrating steel production at its Lake Erie site, adding that total tonnage produced will not be affected but the product mix will shift toward more hot-rolled steel. The company said job opportunities at Lake Erie Works will be offered to Hamilton employees and it expects a significant number to be absorbed there.

Horwath said she doubts the number of jobs offered will be “very much,” and questioned how the layoffs could proceed given that Cleveland-Cliffs' $3.4-billion acquisition of Stelco in 2024 was contingent on a five-year undertaking to maintain the same number of unionized employees. A spokesperson for Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said the Ford government will “use every tool we have to help affected workers.”

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3. 'A miracle that I'm still here': Toronto father says he was shot in the face in case of mistaken identity

A Toronto father of two who was shot in the face in what he believes was a case of mistaken identity is speaking out. Edward Chikosa was shot at around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 outside his townhouse complex at 55 Silverstone Drive, near Kipling and Finch avenues in North Etobicoke. The bullet entered the left side of his face, damaging his teeth and jaw but sparing his brain and spine. “I consider this a miracle. It's just a miracle that I'm still here,” he said.

Chikosa, a generator technician, recalled that as he left home for work that morning he saw two people in a car on the street; before he could say good morning, they pulled their shirts over their faces and started shooting. Police said at the time they were hunting for two masked suspects seen fleeing in a black SUV. Chikosa's 10-year-old son Junjun said he was woken by the gunshots and thought they were fireworks before looking outside. “It was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying,” he recalled.

Shortly after Chikosa returned home, gunmen opened fire on the home next door. He is calling for a strategy by police and the City of Toronto to make his street safer, saying “this should be a state of emergency.” Police statistics show his Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown neighbourhood has had six shootings so far this year. Ward 1 council candidates called for ensuring surveillance cameras work and opening community centres on weekends for youth.

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4. Toronto mayoral candidate promises to waive municipal land transfer tax on first $1.1M of purchase price

Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford has announced he will waive the municipal land transfer tax on the first $1.1 million of the value of homes purchased in Toronto if elected mayor, a move he says could save home buyers about $18,000 on a $1.1-million principal residence. Buyers would still be on the hook for the provincial land transfer tax, which is taxed at roughly the same rate.

Currently, first-time buyers in Toronto can receive a rebate on the municipal land transfer tax, but only on the first $400,000 of the purchase price. Bradford's team said in a news release that the rebate was set at $400,000 in 2008 and hasn't been touched since; back then it covered most homes in the city, while today it fully exempts only 2.6 per cent of them. His plan would take that to as many as two-thirds, they said. The average home price across all property types in Toronto was $979,684 in August, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

The plan is subject to council approval, and Bradford said he would use so-called strong mayor powers to push it forward. He said investors and landlords who own more than one property — about 29 per cent of purchases — would not qualify, and existing rates on properties above $1.1 million and $3 million would stay in place. He estimated the plan would cost the city roughly $300 million annually, which he said could be partly offset by making Toronto Water a public utility.

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5. Undercover operation into gun trafficking network leads to arrest of 3: Toronto police

Toronto police say three suspects are in custody after investigators infiltrated a gun trafficking network through an undercover operation. Insp. Steve Matthews of the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force said the months-long investigation, dubbed Project Playfight, began in February 2026 after officers received information about a person trafficking firearms through an online platform.

Matthews said officers began communicating online with the individual and were introduced to others involved in the sale of firearms, who provided a list of weapons available for purchase. “What began as an investigation into one individual selling firearms online quickly grew into something much larger,” he said. Police believe the firearms were traced to domestic sources, specifically an individual who was registered to possess firearms and acted as the supplier; one suspect allegedly acted as supplier while the other two were sellers.

On July 29, investigators with the assistance of the Emergency Task Force executed search warrants in Toronto and Markham, recovering 15 firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a device capable of converting a handgun into a fully automatic weapon, $7,000 in Canadian currency and a 2.5g gold bar. “Every illegal firearm removed from circulation is one less firearm that can be used to threaten the safety of our communities,” Matthews said.

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6. 2 men charged in Hamilton carjacking that left a woman injured

Two men have been arrested and charged following a violent, daylight carjacking on Hamilton Mountain that injured a woman. The incident occurred Monday at a shopping plaza at 86 Mall Rd., near Upper Wentworth Street and Mohawk Road East. Hamilton Police say they were called just after 8:30 a.m. for reports that a woman had been attacked and her vehicle stolen.

Investigators say a 62-year-old woman had just arrived at the plaza and was removing items from her vehicle when she was approached by two males. “One of the males grabbed the victim's purse and demanded her vehicle keys. During the struggle, the victim was placed in a headlock and thrown to the ground before the suspects took her purse and fled in her vehicle,” police said. The victim sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital. Police say the stolen vehicle had a GPS tracker, allowing them to track its movements; about 15 minutes after the carjacking, officers found it at a gas station on King Street.

As officers moved in, the driver fled and struck a marked police cruiser, while the passenger tried to flee on foot but was arrested after a short pursuit, police said. A second suspect was later found and arrested near Belmont Avenue after the vehicle was located abandoned. Abdulrahman Ali, 21, and Hussain Yahya Jawad, 23, both of Hamilton, have been charged with robbery, motor vehicle theft with violence used, and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. The charges have not been tested in court, and both were held for a bail hearing.

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7. Loblaw's PC Health launches chatbot as more people turn to AI for health info

Loblaw Companies' PC Health launched an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot earlier this month, and the company says it processed more than 100,000 questions in its first week. Called PC Chat, the tool is trained on Canadian clinical sources ranging from provincial vaccine guidelines to health charities such as Diabetes Canada to health professional associations. Users who get prescriptions at Shoppers Drug Mart can opt to link their pharmacy records to PC Chat for more tailored responses.

Many health-care professionals and medical technology experts say the chatbot fills the need for more reliable, Canada-specific health information than general AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Google searches provide. But they caution it is run by a private company with marketing interests, and people should read the fine print before agreeing to link their personal data, understanding how it will be used and how long chats are stored. They also note government regulation of AI chatbots is far behind the technology itself.

Lauren Steinberg, Loblaw's executive vice-president and chief digital officer, says marketing wasn't the main motivation, though “when Canadians trust us and feel genuinely helped, they're going to choose to do more with us.” Muhammad Mamdani, director of the Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine at the University of Toronto, said what makes PC Chat different is that it's trained on more than 1,000 Canadian clinical sources. A Canadian Medical Association survey released earlier this year suggested about half of Canadians are using AI tools to diagnose or treat health issues, even though only 27 per cent said they trust AI for accurate health information.

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8. Ontario woman acquitted in infant son's death based on new medical evidence

An Ontario woman sobbed in court Tuesday morning as she was acquitted in the death of her infant son after more than two decades labelled as his killer. Jennifer Gaskin was convicted of manslaughter in 2002 in the death of her two-and-a-half-month-old son Joeseph after two medical experts testified the child had died as a result of shaken baby syndrome.

Significant concerns about that medical evidence emerged years later as the province examined shaken-baby cases from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, and Gaskin's legal team eventually retained three more experts to review the file. Court heard Tuesday the three experts couldn't rule out the possibility of an inflicted injury, but found Joeseph — a premature baby who spent the first two months of his life in hospital — could also have died from sudden infant death syndrome.

The Crown told the Appeal Court the new findings should be admitted as fresh evidence and Gaskin should be acquitted. In its written submissions, the Crown says the original expert evidence supporting her conviction has been “wholly undermined and placed in grave doubt.”

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9. Affordable child-care program extended in Ontario, but not to $10 a day

Ontario and the federal government have agreed to extend the national affordable child-care program in the province for another four years, but with no promises of further lowering the fees parents pay. Ontario is one of only two provinces, along with Alberta, that had not reached longer-term deals beyond the program's initial five years, and securing funding until at least 2031 will give operators and parents some certainty.

But what it may not do is see the program live up to its signature goal — lowering parent fees to an average of $10 a day. While about half of the provinces are offering average fees at that level, Ontario's are an average of $19 a day, capped at $22. In its new four-year agreement, Ontario has committed to maintain fees at that level until June 30, 2027, with what happens after that still up for discussion.

Federal Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu said the agreement provides stability for Ontario parents and child-care operators, noting parents in the province are still saving about $9,000 per child. The four-year agreement comes with $12 billion from the federal government, on top of Ontario's share of an additional $5.4 billion for the national program. Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra said the new money addresses the province's fiscal hole at least in the short term. Ontario was supposed to have created 86,000 affordable spaces by this year but has fallen short at just shy of 60,000; the province's financial accountability officer has estimated demand closer to 220,000.

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10. 'Truth is made visible': Digital book explores art and the residential school legacy

A new digital book titled “Art, Truth and Reconciliation” was released Tuesday by the Art Canada Institute, a non-profit research organization. Written by renowned curator, scholar and Plains Cree artist Gerald McMaster, it explores how generations of Indigenous artists have responded to the residential school system and its legacy, featuring a collection of 70 works with drawings by children who attended the schools, pieces by survivors and artwork by intergenerational survivors.

Among the works is “Sick and Tired,” an installation by Siksika member and artist Adrian Stimson that uses a salvaged infirmary bed from a residential school in southern Alberta, along with three backlit window frames from the Old Sun Residential School on the Siksika Nation, which operated from 1886 to 1971. Stimson's father attended the school. The piece is being revisited two decades after it first appeared as part of an exhibition memorializing children removed from their homes and forced to attend.

McMaster grew up on the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, and several family members attended residential and day schools. He said when he began researching art and residential schools he found an abundance of material but nothing that brought artists and the subject matter together expansively. More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend government-funded and church-run residential schools throughout Canada, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented thousands who died in the institutions. “Art becomes a place where truth is made visible, where denial is confronted and where knowledge is carried forward,” McMaster writes in the book.

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