Canadian steel billionaire Barry Zekelman says he will offer a $1,000 reward to anyone who finds and reports a public construction project using foreign-made steel , part of a new campaign to shore up the domestic steel sector . It ties into his efforts to pressure federal and provincial governments to fulfill promises to use Canadian-made steel in publicly funded construction projects. “We are a nation of builders, and it’s time to rebuild our focus on what matters most: our own country,” Zekelman said in an open letter that explains his $1,000 reward program . Only the first person to report each project will receive the reward. More details about how to document and report a project will soon be posted on Zekelman Industries Inc.’s website, he said. His campaign launches as United States tariffs on foreign-made steel wreak havoc on the Canadian sector, and after politicians, including Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have promised and announced policies to prioritize the use of domestic materials such as steel in taxpayer-funded projects. Zekelman said those policies have been ineffective. Earlier this month, he joined workers on the side of a road in Windsor, Ont., to protest a highway overpass project, funded by the city and the province, that is part of an effort to improve infrastructure around a new battery gigafactory, but was built with foreign-made steel. The CBC reported it used steel sourced from South Korea and Luxembourg. Since then, Zekelman said he has received a flood of messages from people who investigated public projects and found foreign steel is being used in them. “When we allow foreign materials to be used in our projects, we are not just building with steel of uncertain quality; we are exporting our jobs, weakening our economy and undermining our own national self-sufficiency,” he said in the letter. The chief executive of Zekelman Industries oversees a network of companies that produce more structural steel tubing and pipes than any other company in North America. Founded in Harrow, Ont., where the original plant continues to operate, the company also operates more than a dozen plants in the U.S. Zekelman has been an outspoken supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, even expressing support for his tariffs on Canadian steel , saying Canada has been too lax in allowing unfairly subsidized, foreign-made steel to enter North America. Carney has also said Canada is disproportionately open to steel imports. “We have one of the most open steel markets in the world,” he said in July. “Imports supply almost two-thirds of current Canadian consumption of steel, compared to less than one-third for the United States and less than one-sixth for the European Union.” Carney said Canada is “too dependent on the United States as our biggest customer, with more than 90 per cent of our steel exports going south of the border.” Still, he has resisted calls from the industry group Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) to implement blanket tariffs on all foreign steel. Instead, Carney implemented a quota system that only triggers duties on foreign steel when the import volume exceeds certain thresholds. The CSPA has said these are steps in the right direction, but called for more aggressive duties, including more tariffs on U.S.-made steel. Zekelman has diverged on the issue of putting tariffs on U.S. steel, advocating for an approach that first seeks to keep out foreign-made steel from other countries. He said there has been a groundswell of support from Canadians for strengthening policies that require construction projects here to use domestically made steel. Jeff Bultje, a homebuilder in Chatham, Ont., who described himself as just an interested citizen, said he’s long noticed that many public construction projects use foreign-made materials. Earlier this month, he said he investigated some of the steel being stockpiled for use in Hydro One’s St. Clair Transmission Line Project. The Ontario government announced that the 64-kilometre electric transmission line broke ground in September and will help power the industrial transformation occurring in the southwest part of the province, where there are battery plants and EV assembly lines. Bultje said much of the steel had “Made in Turkey” tags on it. It bothered him, he said, because using foreign-made materials undermines the foundation of the economy, which hurts everyone, but it’s nevertheless become common practice. “ Hopefully, we’re going to change some hearts and attitudes,” he said. Meet the Trump-supporting 'Man of Steel' billionaire who is challenging Carney to do better on tradeOpinion: Why B.C. needs steel — and a fair trade policy that doesn't impede the province's growth • Email: gfriedman@postmedia.com