This past week, Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, welcomed Honda Canada’s milestone investment of approximately $15 billion to create the nation’s first comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain, located in Alliston, Ontario. Over the last four years, automotive and battery makers have announced more than $31 billion in investments in electric vehicle manufacturing across Canada.
Commenting on the planned investment, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Vic Fedeli, said, “Several years in the making, Honda’s historic investment represents a vote of confidence in Ontario’s status as a leading jurisdiction in the global production and development of electric vehicles, batteries, and battery materials. As our province continues to build a fully integrated end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain, Honda’s investment will play an integral role in advancing the innovative technologies that will define the future of automotive design, while securing thousands of good-paying jobs for workers in Alliston and across the province. Thank you, Honda, for choosing Ontario.”
This large-scale project will see four new manufacturing plants in the province. Japan-based Honda will build a world-class electric vehicle assembly plant — the first of its kind for Honda Motor Co. Ltd. — as well as a new stand-alone battery manufacturing plant at Honda’s facilities in Alliston, Ontario. To complete the supply chain, Honda will also build a cathode active material and precursor (CAM/pCAM) processing 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. Once fully operational in 2028, the new assembly plant will produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year.
“Honda of Canada Manufacturing is one of the premier automotive manufacturing facilities in the world and, for nearly forty years, our work has been guided by determination, innovation, and a relentless drive to evolve,” said Jean Marc Leclerc, President and Chief Executive Officer, Honda Canada. “Today’s announcement is a historic investment by a manufacturer in the Canadian auto industry. It proudly honours the highly skilled associates who have earned a global reputation for manufacturing excellence and represents Honda’s recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem.”
Honda’s investments in an electric vehicle assembly plant and a battery manufacturing plant in Alliston will create more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs, with the CAM/pCAM processing plant and separator plant helping to create thousands of additional direct and indirect jobs in Ontario and across Canada, including during the construction phase and across Ontario’s leading auto parts supplier and research and development ecosystems.
It is estimated that Honda’s new investments in eligible EV supply chain segments could benefit from federal support in the range of $2.5 billion through the proposed EV Supply Chain investment tax credit and the proposed Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit. In addition, the Government of Ontario will provide support of up to $2.5 billion for these segments through various direct and indirect incentives. Planning for Honda’s new facilities in Alliston is expected to be finalized in the next six months, at which point the company will release additional details. Honda, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario are working together to support this project through various direct and indirect incentives.
Canada’s automotive sector builds more than 1.5 million vehicles each year and is one of the country’s largest export industries. It is anchored by the presence of five automotive manufacturers: Ford, General Motors, Honda, Stellantis, and Toyota.
Automotive & Food Processing Expansions in Ontario
In other Ontario news, four companies recently announced investments to expand local manufacturing capacity in the automotive and food processing sectors — expected to create approximately 150 jobs in Windsor and Leamington. This includes a $60 million investment from DS Actimo Canada, to build a new facility to manufacture components for EV batteries.
In support of these new investments, Ontario will provide companies with nearly $12 million in investments through the province’s Regional Development Program (RDP). Recipients include:
- DS Actimo Canada (formerly DS C&K Inc.), a subsidiary of South Korea-based DSEV, is investing over $60 million to build a 107,000 square-foot facility in Windsor, marking the company’s first manufacturing plant in North America. The plant will manufacture battery cell module cases with wiring components for EV batteries, including those to be produced at NextStar Energy Inc.’s $5 billion EV battery manufacturing plant. The project is supported by $5 million in funding through the RDP and will create 96 new jobs.
- Kautex Textron is a plastic fuel tank manufacturer in Windsor serving the automotive industry, and is the only plastic fuel tank manufacturer in Canada. With an investment of almost $23 million, the company is building a new battery skid plate manufacturing facility to produce battery casings for EVs using advanced composite materials. The project is supported by $1.5 million in funding through the RDP and will create 12 new jobs.
- Integrity Tool & Mold Inc. is a global leader in the tool and mold industry that supplies parts to a wide range of industries, including those in the automotive supply chain. With an investment of over $15.6 million, the company will adopt state-of-the-art technology at their new Windsor facility to increase their production capacity. The project is supported by over $2.3 million in funding through the RDP and will create 25 new jobs.
- Highbury Canco Corp. produces a variety of food products, including pasta sauce, salsa and beans for large brands. With an investment of over $26.5 million, the company will modernize their facility and increase their processing and warehouse capacity. The project is supported by more than $3.1 million in funding through the RDP and will create 20 new jobs.
