Achi news desk-
Japanese automaker Honda will make a $15 billion electric vehicle investment in Ontario to build four new manufacturing plants in the province, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday.
According to a government press release prior to the announcement, the deal will result in “Canada’s first electric vehicle supply chain.”
The deal includes the construction of Honda’s first electric vehicle assembly plant and a new stand-alone EV battery plant at Honda’s facility in Elliston, Ont.
“Honda will also build a cathode and precursor material processing (CAM/pCAM) plant through a joint venture partnership with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. and a separator plant through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corporation,” the statement said. . The locations of those plants were not named.
Once the assembly plant is fully operational in 2028, it will produce up to 240,000 vehicles a year and create more than 1,000 “good-paying manufacturing jobs,” statements from Honda and the federal government said.
Calling it “the largest automotive investment in Canadian history,” Trudeau said Canada’s natural resource endowment helped make the deal possible. He added that the country’s greatest assets are its workers, who are “the best in the world.”
Ford called the investment “a game-changer for the industry” and “a huge win for Ontario.” According to him, his government supports investment with direct and indirect incentives worth 2.5 billion dollars.
“This is the first time that China has been knocked out of the top spot” in the global supply chain rankings, Ford said, adding that with the Honda deal, Ontario has now attracted billions of dollars in “automobile and EV investment” over the past three years. years
WATCH: ‘Historic’ investment in Honda EV will boost economy for generations, Trudeau says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised Honda’s $15 billion investment as an example of “Canada building the kinds of solutions the world needs” before taking aim at his rivals, suggesting the announcement would not have happened under a Conservative government.
In an announcement in Elliston, Treasury Secretary and Deputy Premier Chrystia Freeland pointed to federal tax credits designed to attract EV investment in the state.
“Thanks to the EV Supply Chain Investment Tax Credit, as well as the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, Honda and its partners will benefit from over $2.5 billion in support from the federal government,” she said.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told reporters in Elliston that details of his company’s $15 billion investment would be released within the next six months.
“When this project is approved, Honda is expected to become the first automaker to take advantage of the tax credit to invest in the EV supply chain,” he said.
In a media statement, Honda said that in addition to the 1,000 new manufacturing jobs, the deal also secures “the current employment level of 4,200 employees at its two existing manufacturing facilities in Ontario.”
The federal conservatives are undermining the agreement
The federal Conservatives were quick to criticize the deal, saying it sells out Canadian workers and would likely use tax dollars to give jobs to foreign workers.
“We’ve seen in the past where Justin Trudeau announces massive subsidies that are supposed to create Canadian jobs, only to see him turn around and let those jobs be filled by replacement foreign workers and then lie about it,” said Conservative MP Rick Perkins, a member of his party. Critic for innovation.
“We cannot trust his latest $5 billion announcement [which will actually be split between the province and federal governments] with Canadian taxpayers’ money to another large multinational corporation will be different.”
When the Ontario and federal governments struck a deal to build an EV battery plant in Windsor, Ont. With NextStar Energy – a partnership between Stellantis and South Korean company LG Energy Solution – it was later revealed that 900 South Koreans were to come to Windsor during the installation phase of the battery plant development.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said that those workers are coming to install special proprietary equipment at the plant and will only work on site for periods of three to 18 months – and will not receive permanent employment.
NextStar Energy has committed to hiring 2,500 Canadians for full-time positions at the plant. Also, about 1,600 Canadian trade people are expected to be involved in the construction.
Foreign workers
That didn’t stop the Canadian Building Trades Association from raising concerns about the use of foreign labor at the company’s construction site in Windsor.
The online news channel iPolitics reported this week that the union wrote to Trudeau expressing frustration with NextStar’s use of several dozen overseas workers to perform jobs previously promised to Canadians.
The union claimed that those workers were performing jobs that could be done by local workers, such as using forklifts and installing equipment.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne dismissed those concerns in an interview with CBC Radio the house.
According to him, in a construction project of this magnitude, it is normal to bring in outside help.
“Just to put it in perspective, we’re talking about 72 [foreign] Workers out of about 2,000 on the construction site today and out of the 5,000 jobs that will be created,” Champagne said.
He said he emphasized to NextStar and Stellantis CEO that the vast majority of all jobs associated with the plant should go to Canadians.
When asked if he required Honda to prioritize Canadians for all possible jobs related to this subsidized project, Champagne said “we always have commitments to maximize Canadian jobs in everything we do.”
In a later interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton LiveThe president of Honda Canada said he is “very aware of what has taken place” at NextStar with some jobs going to foreign nationals.
“Certainly, it’s not something we want to entertain,” Jean-Marc told Clerk.
Leclerc said he wants to create some kind of “memorandum of understanding” with the Canadian Building Trades Association and emphasize Honda’s commitment that “Canadians will have these construction jobs.”
Trudeau and Ford present a united front
Both Trudeau and Ford have dismissed criticism of the $5 billion investment they will share in the Honda deal, saying it will create tens of thousands of spin-off jobs and put Canada at the forefront of the green economy of the future.
“The Conservative Party of Canada would like us not to make this investment today. They opposed our investment in Volkswagen in St. Thomas Ontario, they rejected the investment we made with Stellantis in Windsor and they continue to be against governments stepping up to invest in good jobs of the future,” said Trudeau.
The prime minister said that between now and the federal election set for October 2025, Canada will have a choice between competing priorities – which he described as balancing the budget at any cost or investing in the future.
In introducing his partnership with Ford, Trudeau said he was “incredibly happy to be here with a Progressive Conservative like Doug Ford who understands that investment” is how you build a strong economy for decades to come.
Ford said that since his government took office, 700,000 new jobs have been created in his province “because of the partnerships we’ve had at all three levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal partners investing in the future.
“It’s Dory,” Ford said. “It’s decades and decades down the road. What price do you put on it? There’s no price you can put on it because we invest in people.”
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The Prime Minister said the money invested stays in the province and will stay in Canada for generations to come.
Last year, federal and provincial governments announced several deals with EV battery makers Northvolt, Volkswagen and Stellantis-LGES.
The governments estimated the investment at 37.7 billion dollars over ten years, with 32.8 billion dollars of which is intended for production subsidies and 4.9 billion dollars is intended for the construction of the facilities.
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