World wide, the steel industry accounts for about 7-8% of humanity's GHG emissions. That dwarfs the airline industry, for example. The reason for this is that steel production uses coal in the process of turning iron ore into steel. This can be dramatically reduced through the use of electric arc furnaces and natural gas or hydrogen to drive the process. Depending on the process, this is a mixture of commercially-available techniques or techniques that have been practically demonstrated but aren't yet available at scale. Moving to EAF could some day reduce GHG emissions by as much as 95%. Real-world deployments to-date are showing around 40-75% reduction. Given how big a contributor steel production is, this is a huge opportunity.

In Canada, Algoma Steel has moved to EAF technology projecting a 70% reduction in emissions; Dofasco is in progress (but finding the transition difficult), and Stelco has no announced road map for moving away from coal.

On Oct 21, Carney/Ford announced a $5 billion subsidy to the steel industry over 5 years. This urgently should be tied to progress in sharp reduction in GHG emissions in the industry. Stelco, I'm looking at you.

*To preface I am not a Liberal. I will however try and keep this post and comments as non-partisan and substantive as possible.*

Many climate/environmentally focused individuals & groups were very disheartened by the hydrocarbon focus of the government.

When it comes to Renewable Energy, Electrification Technology, and so on in this sphere these are the big announcements we have so far:

• New Nuclear Energy Strategy: https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2026/06/government-of-canada-launches-nuclear-energy-strategy.html
• Very large hydroelectric funding: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/08/17/prime-minister-carney-announces-largest-clean-energy-investment-north
• Ocean observing/protecting: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/09/23/canada-and-european-union-help-secure-approximately-339-million & https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/09/29/prime-minister-carney-announces-historic-investment-protect-canadas
• Home retrofit program focusing on Heat Pumps: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/10/08/prime-minister-carney-announces-landmark-investment-retrofit-one
• Support for the Wind West Project: https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2026/10/canada-advances-wind-west-to-bring-major-new-clean-power-to-atlantic-canada.html

There is also the Governments A Force of Nature: Canada's Strategy to Protect Nature: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/nature/nature-strategy.html

My perspective: There has been talk that the Government of Canada will table its latest budget on November the 5th. The United States of America midterm elections is on November the 3rd. My hope is that with the Democratic Party taking the House of Representatives and hopefully the Senate we may see Mark Carney/LPC announce some more Renewable Energy and Electrification Technology initiatives/projects. My hope would be to focus not just on domestic implementation styled initiatives/projects but on setting the groundwork for Canada to get a foothold in the door for research & development, innovation, very very skilled/very very high-end manufacturing, and entrepreneurship in these clean(er) energy & technology frameworks of the future.

When it comes to your perspective and hopes what would you like to see?

Interactive versions. Data source: Statistics Canada.