Proceeds from the transaction will go toward paying down debt, funding small- and medium-sized acquisitions and returning capital to shareholders.

The move comes as Canada's steel industry starts laying off workers in anticipation of production slowdowns.

CEO Michael Garcia says his company is also in the midst of "aggressive" cost cuts as it copes with uncertainty from the ongoing trade war.

The national decline was led by a significant drop in permit values in Ontario, at -$771 million.

The OCS conducted its survey prior to the escalating trade war between Canada and the United States, and plans to go back out to the industry to study potential effects.