On Monday, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, one of Canada’s most populous provinces, announced on X that the province’s government would be “ripping up” its $68 million ($100 million CAD) contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. The news came soon after President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods, causing Canada to impose a 25% tariff on U.S. goods in response.
But Ford reportedly decided to put a pin in that plan later on Monday after President Trump chose to delay imposing tariffs on all Canadian imports for 30 days. The stay came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada announced several concessions, including plans to station 10,000 “frontline personnel” at the 5,500-mile-long Canada-U.S. border.
Musk has become a close confidant of President Trump, and now oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a team within the Trump administration tasked with conducting massive cost-cutting to government spending and widescale deregulation. At the same time, Musk’s Starlink has been looking to strike deals with local and national governments to provide satellite internet. The Ontario government’s Starlink contract was signed in November 2024 and is supposed to provide fast internet to remote parts of the province.
Earlier on Monday — before Canada was able to delay the imposition of those U.S. tariffs — Ford also said in a press conference that other U.S. companies will also be banned from future provincial contracts in Ontario until the U.S. government removes the tariffs. Ford said Musk was “part of the Trump team that wants to destroy families, incomes, destroy businesses.”
“[Musk] wants to take food off the table of people, hard-working people, and I’m not going to tolerate it,” said Ford.
“U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.”
Starlink did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
Correction: This story initially stated the ripped-up Starlink contract was worth $100 million instead of $100 million CAD. This piece was also updated to reflect the events of Monday, including the late-day deal that successfully delayed Trump’s announced tariffs.
