American steel company EVRAZ North America receives $40-million SIF investment

ISED will invest $40 million in EVRAZ North America Inc., the largest steel company in western Canada, as part of a $112.6-million project to upgrade its facilities in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Red Deer, Alberta. The investment, which is expected to create 35 jobs and maintain more than 2,100, is being made through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), a program that seeks to encourage R&D and accelerate technology transfer and commercialization. The announcement follows other recent federal investments in Canadian steel companies: $90 million for Algoma Steel Inc. in January, 2019 ($30 million from SIF, $60 million from FedDev Ontario);  $49.9 million for ArcelorMittal in October, 2018; and, in May, 2018, $60 million for Elysis, a joint venture between aluminum-industry Alcoa Corporation and Rio Tinto Aluminum to eliminate greenhouse gases from aluminum production. EVRAZ North America is based in Chicago, Illinois.