Canada's Bombardier lays off 550 workers

The Canadian group Bombardier announced Wednesday it will lay off 550 employees from its Thunder Bay, Ontario plant, cutting the site's workforce in half. The company said in a statement that the decision was unavoidable because a contract to build tramways and streetcars for the city of Toronto was winding up and no new contracts were on the way.

"This decision is due to the cyclical nature of our business and the ramp down of our two high cadence programs," the company said in a statement. "Metrolinx BiLevel and TTC LRV are synchronized and both programs will be ending within a few weeks of each other with no orders to follow." It said the terminations will be effective November 4.