Province pushes Toronto to award subway contract to Alstom
The Ontario government is looking to get Alston a sole-source procurement contract for 55 new subways trains for the TTC rail line two in Toronto.
Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario Minister of Transportation, said due to the tariff threats made by U.S President Donald J. Trump, Ontario must pivot its procurement policies to ensure the government is putting Ontario jobs first.
“We need to do anything and everything we can to support our workers in Ontario and companies in Canada to manufacture and win a lot of these contracts, especially when we know that one of the only places where in Canada you can build the new subway cars is in Thunder Bay,” Sarkaria told Newswatch.
In a letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, he said he wants the City of Toronto to “consider a sole-source procurement with Alstom” and that the province will work with the federal government “should this decision lead to any changes in the project scope.”
The provincial has already provided $758 million for the TTC project.
Chow’s press secretary, Zeus Eden, issued a statement saying the mayor supports buy-Canadian policies and “with President Trump attacking Canada’s economy, we need to support local workers, jobs and businesses.”
“We are working in collaboration with the provincial and federal government to deliver public transit for Torontonians and to support Canadian jobs. A request for proposals was issued in December. The mayor speaks regularly with Minister Sarkaria and we will work collaboratively with the province to assess the feasibility of their request,” wrote Eden.
If Alstom is awarded the contract, Unifor members would build the new subway cars, confirmed the union in a written statement.
“Every time such an investment gets the green light, it strengthens our Unifor Made-in-Canada fightback,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi.
“We have a pivotal moment to prioritize supporting our local industries and bolstering Canada’s economy by creating sustainable, good-paying jobs right here in Ontario.”
By asking Toronto award the contract to Alstom now, the timelines of the contract could come in time to save many Alstom employee from being laid off.
Earlier this month Unifor Local 1075 president Justin Roberts told Newswatch 250 Alstom employees could be laid off starting in June if more contracts aren’t secured before then for the Thunder Bay plant.
The likelihood that this contract will be signed by June is uncertain; however, Sarkaria said the signing of a sole-source procurement contract with Alstom could speed up the timeline.
“This will absolutely, hopefully ensure that those jobs in Thunder Bay are protected. One of the other things it does is really moves up (the timeline). This was contract was gonna close in probably September and not be awarded till January, February,” said Sarkaria
“So, when we look at from a certainty perspective, we have to engage with Alstom and ensure that from a quality perspective, pricing perspective, that no one is taking advantage of the Ontario taxpayer. But ultimately for us, this is all about Thunder Bay and supporting those good paying jobs.”
At the 2025 Northern Ontario Municipal Association conference, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she supports Sarkaria’s letter to encourage Toronto to buy TTC’s rail cars from Alstom.
“I’m glad to see the Minister of Transportation finally coming out and joining the NDP and calling for this. I have to say we’ve already lost so much opportunity. Like with Hitachi and the Ontario line vehicles being built in the United States, that’s a choice that government makes to spend our taxpayer dollars in the United States in other jurisdictions,” said Stiles.
Roberts said in a statement that local union members are “ready and eager” to start building these subway cars.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be given more opportunities, which in turn, will help our communities grow and thrive.” – tbnewswatch.com
article website here
Sounds like a good idea. Plant benefits. Workers benefit. City of Thunder Bay benefits. Conservative MPP benefits. But is that whole story?
The benefit of a competitive bidding process is value to the customer. Price and quality of the finished product.
Also competitive bidding promotes innovation. Do more with less. Improve the final product while cutting the costs. Speed up production. A company that is guaranteed to be awarded the contract is not required to do any of those things.
By simply giving the work to a company eliminates all of those possible benefits. One only has to look back at the former Soviet Unio to see where this new policy could be headed. How did that work out?
Industrial socialism is doomed to fail. It always does. Everyone wins with a competitive process. Customers, workers, governments. They all win.
There is only one company in Canada that makes mass transport rail cars. There is zero chance at having a competitive bidding process involving Canadian companies let alone companies from Ontario.
What is sad is that Alstom depends on the ‘kindness of strangers’ for its survival. It has proven to be incapable of competing against companies located in China, Korea or Japan. They have priced themselves out of the market. The same goes for the Canadian shipbuilding industry as well as the auto industry. The products they produce cost more.
How much more are the taxpayers willing to pay for a product of equal or lesser quality has yet to be seen. Sooner or later, this discussion will have to be made.
In the meantime, eliminating the competitive bidding process is being hailed as a great thing. Hurrah.
But why stop with Ontario.
Restrict local projects to local contractors. Anything constructed in Northwestern Ontario should only be constructed by Northwestern Ontario companies. Think of the new prison being constructed out on Hwy 61.
In fact, anything constructed in the City of Thunder Bay should be built by Thunder Bay companies.
In fact, the workers should be born in the city. Thunder Bay, not Port Arthur or Fort William. Only people born after January 01, 1970.
Just imagine the possibilities.