Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to my colleague's comments on the Canadian automotive industry. This industry plays an essential role in the Canadian economy and generated roughly $16 billion in economic activity in 2024. It directly employs more than 125,000 Canadians and supports hundreds of thousands of supplementary jobs across the country, especially in southern Ontario.
The auto industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in Canada, and the United States' unfair and arbitrary tariffs on Canadian vehicles are driving up costs and threatening good jobs. Our government recognizes the challenges these tariffs pose to the industry and has adopted supportive measures and a proportionate response. We responded by imposing reciprocal tariffs of 25% on vehicles from the United States. We also implemented a performance-based remission framework to protect the auto industry. This framework allows automakers that maintain their production and investments in Canada to import a set quantity of CUSMA-compliant vehicles assembled in the United States countertariff-free.
We are also investing in Canadian businesses to help them adapt to these challenges and lay the groundwork for future growth. Our government has announced the creation of a new strategic response fund, which will provide $5 billion to key sectors, prioritizing those that are highly exposed to and affected by tariffs, including the auto sector. The fund will seek to maintain industrial capacity by offsetting new market access costs, supporting retooling, and facilitating plans by Canada-based firms to expand or secure new markets.
We will also make sure we do not forget which companies are helping us and continuing to believe in Canada and which are not. We will not forget.