Ontario cancels $100 million Starlink contract in protest at U.S. tariffs

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 $100 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.

The news comes soon after President Donald Trump announced this weekend a 25% tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods, causing Canada to impose a 25% tariff on U.S. goods in response.

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ford posted on X on Monday.

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 was supposed to provide fast internet to remote parts of the province. 

In a press conference on Monday, Ford also said U.S. companies will 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 not 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.