Canada's Ontario ends contract with Musk's Starlink over US tariffs

Ottawa: Ontario, Canada's most populous province and its economic engine, announced Monday a ban on US companies bidding on tens of billions of dollars worth of government contracts, and dumped a deal with Elon Musk's Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs.

"Ontario won't do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.

"US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame."

Ford said he was "ripping up" a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November, to provide internet services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote northern parts of Ontario.

Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June.

The company's owner, Musk, is the world's richest man and a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who vowed to slap 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.

Trump spoke earlier Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the tariffs, and said in a post on his Truth Social platform they would speak again later in the day.