Sherritt Temporarily Lays Off 280 Canadian Workers, 47% of Its Workforce

Sherritt International is temporarily laying off approximately 280 employees — 47% of its Canadian workforce — for roughly 90 days as it scrambles to preserve cash while working to restart metals refining at its Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta refinery. The company announced the cuts on November 4, 2026, and said employees may be recalled earlier if operations resume sooner than expected.

Put in plain terms: nearly one in two of Sherritt's Canadian workers is off the job until at least early 2027, with recall timing tied directly to regulatory and financing milestones rather than a fixed calendar date.

Why did the layoffs happen now?

The immediate trigger is a feed shortage. Refining activities at Fort Saskatchewan ceased on June 22, 2026, after the refinery's feed inventory ran out. Without feed, there's no refining work — and without refining work, there's no revenue to keep the full payroll running.

The deeper cause sits in Cuba. After the U.S. administration issued Executive Order 14404 expanding sanctions on people doing business in Cuba, Sherritt suspended its direct participation in joint venture activities there on May 7, 2026. That cut off the supply chain feeding the Canadian refinery and left the company, in its own words, operating under constrained liquidity conditions.

For the affected workers, the takeaway is stark: this layoff isn't a demand problem or a commodity-price problem. It's a sanctions and supply-chain problem, which means recall depends on Washington licenses, not market recovery.

What keeps running at the refinery?

Not everything stops during the 90-day window. Sherritt will continue:

• Production and sales of ammonia fertilizer and sulphuric acid
• Necessary maintenance work
• Environmental protection and safety activities

That partial operation matters for workers: the site isn't mothballed, which keeps a recall pathway open and maintains the physical plant for a restart.

Is a restart actually in motion?

Yes, and there's a concrete date to point to. On October 19, 2026, Sherritt received the first in a series of anticipated emergency licenses from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control — the approvals required to restart mining and processing in Cuba and refining in Canada.

"This was a difficult decision, and we recognize the impact it will have on our employees and their families," said Dr. Peter Hancock, Interim President and CEO. "The layoffs are intended to be temporary, and employees may be recalled sooner if developments allow refining activities to resume earlier than anticipated."

Hancock also framed the bigger prize: "Our objective is to return Sherritt to its position as an important producer of nickel and cobalt and a key contributor to North America's critical minerals supply chain." That's not small talk — the Alberta refinery is the only significant cobalt refinery and one of just three nickel refineries in North America.

Who's running HR through this?

Separately, Sherritt announced its Chief Human Resources Officer has left to pursue another opportunity. The Vice President, Human Resources, a 14-year veteran of the company, has taken over the function to ensure continuity during the layoff and recall process.

The company's own cautionary language flags real uncertainty: recall timing, receipt of remaining emergency licenses, restart financing, and ongoing U.S. actions toward Cuba could all shift the timeline. For now, the first OFAC license and the 90-day layoff clock are the two markers to watch.