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Saskatchewan steel manufacturers were handed federal support Thursday as U.S. tariff pressure continues to force local companies to rethink supply chains, investments and where they sell their products.
The federal government has announced more than $8.1 million in support funding through PrairiesCan’s regional tariff response initiative in Regina, going to the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership and three steel manufacturers in and around Regina.
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DynaIndustrial GP Inc., Dutch Industries Ltd. and Hi-Tec Profiles Inc. each received $1 million. STEP received just over $5.1 million.
“We’re helping Prairie businesses move beyond disruption, emerging stronger, more innovative, and more competitive,” said Eleanor Olszewski, Minister Responsible for PrairiesCan, in a statement.
Marland Ottenbreit, general manager of DynaIndustrial’s Regina branch, said the funding helped reduce the risk of major investments.
“It sets us up for the next 50 years,” Ottenbreit said. “When you’re investing millions of dollars, you walk around the shop here and see a lot of the equipment, it’s not small pieces of equipment. It’s multi-million-dollar pieces that take years and years to pay off.”
DynaIndustrial is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and employs about 150 people between Regina and Saskatoon.
Ottenbreit said the company exports roughly 50 to 60 percent of its products, with about 20 to 30 percent of annual revenue tied to the United States, depending on the year.
He said the biggest challenge has not just been tariffs themselves, but the uncertainty around them.
“There’s been some impact for sure, but for us the bigger issue was the continual changing of the tariffs,” he said. “Now that’s kind of been a little bit steady, then it’s a little bit easier to predict.”
DynaIndustrial plans to use its funding for robotic welders and a large CNC lathe. The company was also looking beyond the U.S., including a recent trip to Sweden to explore opportunities in the European steel sector.
New robotic welding equipment at DynaIndustrial’s Regina facility, part of the company’s expansion and productivity upgrades supported through PrairiesCan funding announced Thurs, May 21, 2026. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Dutch Industries, based in Pilot Butte, is also receiving $1 million to expand its agricultural product line through new manufacturing equipment.
Company president, Greg Cruson, said tariffs have created uncertainty across the manufacturing process.
“It’s really tough to narrow that down and say this is the exact impact, because our supply chains are so complicated and related,” Cruson said.
He said the funding helped Dutch Industries move ahead with an investment it had been unsure about.
“For us, a big part of it is it allowed us to invest in something that we were on the edge of wondering whether it was possible or not,” he said.
Hi-Tec Profiles president Trent Meyer said the company’s funding would help grow steel parts manufacturing capacity and support other manufacturers across Saskatchewan and Western Canada.
“This investment doesn’t just benefit Hi-Tec,” Meyer said. “It ultimately benefits everybody that’s manufacturing steel in Saskatchewan.”
Chris Lane, president and CEO of STEP, said the $5.1-million investment would help businesses across Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba build export capacity and find new markets.
“Trade diversification is no longer optional; it is essential to long-term economic resilience and growth,” Lane said in a statement.
The funding is non-repayable. PrairiesCan said applications for the regional tariff response initiative remain open for eligible businesses across the prairies.
