Algoma Steel is the lifeblood of Sault Ste. Marie. It employs nearly 3000 people in good times. Now, it is laying off 1000 workers, 30% of its employees. This will be devastating for Sault Ste. Marie, a city of approximately 75,000 people.
I was raised in the Soo, as it is often called, during the 1950s and early 1960s. When I left for university, I never returned to live there again.
The Soo is much like any other small city or town in the northern part of Ontario. Quiet, quaint and each one in some ways unique.
The city is more akin to being like a small town even though its population approaches 100,000 today. They roll up the streets, not at night, but by mid-afternoon. There is no night life unless you call the couple of ‘lounges’ small bars and these are “night life.” There are no fine-dining establishments. The restaurants labelled as fine dining establishments would go bankrupt in no time in Toronto. It’s a wonder the few that exist survive in the Soo.
My father was a chef working for the Windsor Hotel when he immigrated to Canada in 1948. Eventually he left the Windsor to test the waters of running one’s own business. He partnered with a crooked local lawyer, that’s another story, to manage a restaurant in the Soo, the Golden Steer Steak House in the 1960s. He developed it into the #1 dining place in the Soo, with banquet facilities, a fine dining restaurant and a coffee shop. Sitting on the corner of a downtown Queen Street intersection, the Golden Steer was the place to eat if you wanted outstanding food in the 60s and 70s. My dad was ‘the chef’ of the town. He even had his own TV show broadcast on the local TV station, CJIC. He must have been a hilarious with his heavy accented broken English . But his lovable personality shone through as the show lasted a few seasons.
The Soo was not much to speak of otherwise. Its economic life was tied to Algoma Steel for decades. As Algoma rose or descended, the Soo followed suit. A strike at Algoma devastated the Soo. Between the provincial and municipal governments, the Soo managed to expand its economic base over the years with new businesses, some new industries and government created operations.
However, Algoma was the prime employer and as its fortunes turned, so did those of the Soo.
I have visited the Soo a number of times after leaving city in the 1964. It is a city that can easily depress any person who sees its downtown. There is little business, a few small merchants, little commercial activity. Many storefronts, boarded up at some time, have remained that way, closed. It is impossible not to feel the gloom and heavy atmosphere blanketing the city. It never succeeded in developing economically and complete independent of Algoma Steel.
The provincial government has tried developing the economic base of the Soo. Government created businesses like the Ontario Lottery, loans and subsidies to Algoma. Even the current Ford government has tried to improve the economic independence of the Soo lending Algoma loans of 100s of millions of dollars as recently as 2025. These have done little to improve the economic independence of the city and the latest loans will likely not change much. The Soo is like any other northern Ontario city/town…at its apex economically and in its growth and likely destined to stagnate at that level, forever.
However, the picture is not as bleak and dreary as it may sound to an outsider. Though the city never seem what might be called ‘boom days’ economically, it is a liveable city where one can safely and happily raise a family and enjoy life. There are restaurants, cinemas, pubs, shops and businesses. There are numerous schools, elementary and secondary. Homes are relatively fairly priced. Employment is stable for the most part. The area surrounding the Soo is great for people who enjoy the outdoor life. Hunting, fishing, beach life with cottage living. The Soo offers plenty though like in most small cities and towns these attractions draw few new people to the city. The Soo will survive as it is today, a small city with a moderate economy. A good place to raise a family.
However, the Soo and Algoma Steel are other casualties of the American president’s tariff wars. Algoma Steel has been affected by these tariffs directly and must layoff a large part of its employees. The Soo’s inherent connectivity with Algoma means it will be collatoral damage directly affected by this economic policy. When Algoma suffers, the malady infects the entire city. The impending layoff of 1000 Algoma workers will devastate the Soo. Belts will tighten, business will fail, families will suffer. The economic repercussions will be devastating. A very sad situation thanks to America’s president.
The Soo, so far away yet too close to escape the new American economic war.
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