Ontario will ban US firms from bidding for public sector contracts, locking American contractors, engineers and consultants out of some US$139.7bn worth of infrastructure projects in the most populous Canadian province.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the ban on 4 March in retaliation to US President Donald Trump’s trade war against Canada.
“US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in revenues. They only have President Trump to blame,” Ford said, reports CBC.
Separately, Olivia Chow, mayor of Ontario’s biggest city, Toronto, will present a motion to the city council to ban US companies from city contracts.
Over the past two years, US firms have won US$147m worth of city-procured contracts, CBC reports.
Fast-growing southern Ontario is currently home to several multi-billion-dollar transit megaprojects, including Metrolinx’s US$12.6bn GO rail expansion.
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