Canada is banning the import of Russian steel and aluminum as part of its sanctions regime.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says this will help undermine Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Department of Industry says Canada imported $208 million in steel products from Russia in 2021 and $79 million last year.

Canada also imported $44 million in aluminum from Russia in 2021, followed by $16 million last year.

Russia’s trade with Canada plummeted in the first 10 months after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, with a 78 per cent per cent drop in exports from the same period one year prior.

Ottawa’s economic measures already bar the export of everything from forklifts to barbers’ chairs, unless Canadian businesses convince the Liberal cabinet to issue exemptions.