Canada is investing more than $33 million from its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) in an effort to create well-paying, middle-class jobs and support long-term economic prosperity in its automotive manufacturing sector. The funding will support advancements in automotive technologies to develop safer vehicles that are more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. The SIF is a new program to attract and support high-quality business investments across all sectors of the economy.
“To get to the cars of the future, we have to start today!“ said Navdeep Bains, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “Our government is supporting Canada’s strong and vibrant automotive sector and the middle-class Canadians who are employed in it. Fostering automotive technology is essential to the Canadian economy, and we will continue to make Canada a global center for talent, innovation and technological advancements. We’re creating safer, more environmentally friendly vehicles, and that’s good for all Canadians.”
The investment—aimed at creating or maintaining more than 2,600 automotive sector jobs — was announced by Bains at Lakeside Plastics near Windsor, Ontario. The company will benefit from a more than $807,000 investment that will contribute to creating 60 new skilled jobs. It is one of 11 recipient companies located in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, and will use the funds to develop innovative new molding processes for lightweight and more environmentally friendly material for vehicles.
“We are proud of the work we do here at Lakeside Plastics, and we are continuing to push the envelope and innovate to help supply the automotive industry with high-quality products,” said Dana Leavitt, CEO, Lakeside Plastics Limited. “I want to thank the Government of Canada for its support, which is helping us create jobs, improve our processes and continue producing world-class quality products.”
Other companies receiving support from the SIF include:
- Blue Solutions Canada Inc., Boucherville, Quebec
- SWITCH Materials Inc., Burnaby, British Columbia
- Nova Steel Inc., Woodstock, Ontario
- AGS Automotive Systems, Toronto, Ontario
- Sciemetric Instruments Inc., Ottawa, Ontario
- JP Bowman Ltd. (o/a Bowman Precision Tooling), Brantford, Ontario
- Marwood Metal Fabrication Ltd., Tillsonburg, Ontario
- Abraham Innovation Systems Inc., Markham, Ontario
- Synergx Technologies Inc., Laval, Quebec
- Meridian Lightweight Technologies Inc., Strathroy, Ontario
The automotive industry is one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors, employing more than 530,000 people directly and indirectly. Canada’s automotive industry produces more than 2.4 million vehicles every year, and contributes more than $15 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product.
