In the USMCA, there was a lot of debate about dairy and supply management, and a lot of thoughts and feedback about the automotive sector. The current President said he would invoke section 232 on the automotive sector and impose a 25% tariff. We were very fortunate, because of the leadership of Minister Freeland, to shield the automotive sector. It's such a critical part of our economy: 500,000 direct and indirect jobs are connected to the automotive sector.
It's not only about the OEMs or the major automakers; it's about the supply chain and the number of people they employ throughout the country, not only in Ontario. We took very clear steps to protect that by making sure that production levels for the number of vehicles that are built, and also the parts that are sold, have significant growth potential. Part of the USMCA also changed the rules of origin for vehicle content, making sure there was a higher threshold for regional value content.
Currently, we're at 62.5% for regional value content for vehicles made in North America to local content requirements. That will go up to 75%. That creates more opportunities in the automotive sector. That complements our support. Since we've been in government, we've seen $5.6 billion invested in the automotive sector. Those are significant investments. People talk about how people view Canada. When it comes to the automotive sector, a lot of innovation and a lot of investments are occurring. That's translating into a lot of jobs, both being maintained and created on a going-forward basis as well.
That was a key aspect of the USMCA, to make sure that we not only protect the automotive sector, but set it up for success going forward. A high regional value content helps, and also the labour standards with Mexico, because now their labour standard employee costs have gone up to $16. A competitive advantage potentially existed with Mexico in labour costs, which now no longer is the case. The difference is much smaller. That makes Canada even more attractive as an investment opportunity. We're very pleased with the progress we've made, and now we look forward to working with the automotive sector to build a car of the future as well.
This supports what we've also done in the aerospace sector. Recently the Prime Minister announced significant investments in CAE from the strategic innovation fund to make sure it continues to be a global leader in flight simulation. They have also pivoted toward health and health simulation. There are great opportunities in Canada for investments, for growth and jobs, particularly in the automotive and aerospace sectors, two sectors that were part of industrial policy for decades and that have a bright future as well in some of the policies and programs we've put in place for innovation and trade.