Economic uncertainty caused by tariffs has some lenders avoiding Windsor projects, officials say

Economic uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada is causing some banks to pause lending to Windsor projects.

Downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino said at a recent public meeting that a developer told him some banks aren’t prepared to back projects in the city.

“The banks, including one of the big four, are looking away from Windsor,” he told the audience.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he’s also heard about developers having issues securing loans.

“There are lenders out there, including Schedule A banks, who have looked at Windsor and said with the tariff issue in place, we don’t feel comfortable adding to our loan book,” said Dilkens.

“And so that means that they’re not funding projects in Windsor at the moment.”

Dilkens said the market wants to see certainty and urged the U.S. and Canadian governments to reach a deal on tariffs.

With tens of thousands employed in the automotive and manufacturing industries, the city has been identified as particularly vulnerable to tariffs.

Housing starts down compared to last year

Brent Klundert, president of the Windsor-Essex Home Builders Association, said financial institutions are being cautious.

“Across the board in Ontario, things are definitely tightening on the residential side when it comes to financial institutions,” said Klundert.

Earlier this year, Windsor celebrated hitting the province’s housing target with more than 2,157 unit started in 2024.

That number includes apartment units, townhouses, detached and semi-detached homes.

But starts this year have fallen drastically, with data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showing 871 units started as of September this year.

That’s down from 1,729 units across the same period last year.

“We’re noticing financial institutions, because of uncertainty in the market, things really tightening up,” said Klundert.

Money flowing, but calculations getting tighter

Max De Angelis, who has led the development of large scale residential, industrial and commercial projects as president of Fortis Construction Group, said he’s in a cautious spot.

“As a guy who has, potentially in the pipeline, between $150 to $250 million of real estate deals in our own pipeline, you have to be very, you know, cautious of when you go and where you’re going,” he said.

The chaotic confusion caused by Trump’s tariff threats compared to his actual orders is making it difficult for organizations like Fortis to do the calculations on big deals.

“We can’t control inflation, we can’t control interest rates, we can’t control COVID and God almighty, we can’t control Trump and the tariff rhetoric,” he said.

But, he said, that doesn’t mean they can’t get done.

“The flow of money has not necessarily stopped if you can stencil a deal that work economically and you can backstop that deal,” he said.

“You have to be much more of an astute businessman today, or a businessperson today, to get things to work.”