The Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District are evaluating how tariffs will impact new school construction throughout the city.
On Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reported that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent for Canada. This comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced he will be charging 25 per cent more for electricity to 1.5 million American homes in Minnesota, New York and Michigan.
Previously, Trump announced a blanket 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods and services but it has been paused until April 2.
Both the CBE and the CCSD have been planning for, designing and constructing new schools as public school enrolment reach record levels. The CBE said the system saw a 95 per cent utilization rate as of September 2024, while the CCSD said 30 schools have a utilization rate of 100 per cent or higher.
In an email to LiveWire Calgary on Monday, a CBE media spokesperson said the district is contacting its furniture vendor to replace U.S.-sourced furnishings with Canadian ones.
“While new CBE schools are delivered by Alberta Infrastructure, we are provided with a grant to purchase and arrange for the furnishing of new schools. The current CBE contract sources furniture from a variety of suppliers located in Germany, the U.S. and Canada,” the email read.
“While the full impact of the potential US tariffs are not known, CBE has initiated discussions with our furniture vendor to determine what alternate options we have to replace our US sourced furnishings with Canadian made products.”
The CCSD said it is awaiting further information to fully understand how the tariffs will impact the district.
“The Calgary Catholic School District is aware of the province’s direction to alter school boards’ procurement practices. We are awaiting further information to review and fully understand implementation and the impact on our district,” a spokesperson for the CCSD told LWC in an email.
A spokesperson for Alberta’s Ministry of Infrastructure said the tariffs will disrupt supply chains and drive up costs in the construction industry.
Premier Danielle Smith announced on Thursday, March 5 that the province will suspend purchase of American alcohol and video lottery terminals until further notice in response to Trump’s tariffs. The government also launched a “Buy Alberta” campaign which aims to put a spotlight on local farmers and produce.
“The Government of Alberta will therefore be moving forward with our tariff response until the continued threats and unilateral imposition of tariffs in contravention of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) has stopped,” the Ministry of Infrastructure spokesperson’s email read.
“We are also calling on the federal government to join us in our ongoing efforts to tear down provincial trade barriers, fast-track resource projects, and expand our trade ties globally.”
