GM Canada will get more than $500 million from the federal and provincial governments to support electric vehicle production — and a slice of that pie will be served to the 1,600-worker Cami plant in Ingersoll.
Premier Doug Ford and federal government officials took the stage Monday at GM Canada’s Oshawa assembly plant to announce support of the automaker’s strategy to electrify its fleet and boost production in Canada.
The two levels of government pledged $259 million each for GM Canada’s $2-billion investment in Oshawa where a new pickup truck will be assembled and Cami where an electric vehicle will be made.
“It is fantastic news. It means we will have work there for the next decade, the orders are already strong and electric is the way of the future,” said Mike Van Boekel, chairperson Unifor Local 88, representing the workers.
The Cami assembly plant is the first production plant in Canada to make fully electric vehicles. GM is investing $1 billion to transition Cami from Equinox production to electric commercial vans — the BrightDrop EV600 and its smaller version, the 410.
Production of the Equinox vehicle it makes now will cease at the end of this month and the plant will be shut down for retooling with about 1,300 workers laid off until October when production of the BrightDrop ramps up. All the laid-off workers will be called back, joining a few hundred workers who will work during retooling, Van Boekel said.
“Everyone will come back for recall and we will be hiring in 2023. I don’t know when, but we will.”
Production of the Equinox will move to Mexico.
There is no breakdown as to how much of the federal and provincial investment will be spent at Cami, but Oshawa and Ingersoll will share the revenue, said David Paterson, vice-president corporate affairs at GM Canada.
“We think we have something quite special here,” he said of the BrightDrop. “It is a different product, different technology. We have global and North America forecasts. This is pretty exciting.”
GM also announced it is adding a third shift to its Oshawa assembly plant with the addition of a light-duty Silverado pickup truck, bringing that plant to 2,600 workers when the third shifts adds 600 jobs this summer. The company reopened the plant last year to manufacture the heavy-duty Silverado pickup after it was closed for two years.
“I can’t wipe the smile off my face. This is an amazing announcement,” Premier Doug Ford said. “This is just another huge win for Durham (region) and for all of Ontario.”
Of the new hires for Oshawa, GM pledged half will be women.
“This partnership with the governments of Ontario and Canada is helping GM build a more diverse, innovative and sustainable industry and EV supply chain for the future — and we are proud to be doing that right here in Canada,” said Marissa West, GM Canada’s President.
GM plans to introduce 30 new electric vehicles by 2025, eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035 and become carbon-neutral in its global products and operations by 2040, the company says.
“It’s a big thing, designed by Canadians, made in Canada and transforming the way delivery is made in North America. We can all be very proud. This is truly Canadian,” Francois Phillipe Champagne, the federal minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said of BrightDrop vehicles.
Kapil Lakhotia, chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp., said this and other recent announcements — such as a large electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor — make southern Ontario an industry leader.
Manufacturing employees about 35,000 in London region and the GM announcement will help stabilize that, he said. “The announcement today along with other recent developments is great for our region’s parts suppliers and essential for sustainable long-term growth.”
Cami employs about 1,600 workers at the Ingersoll plant.
Stellantis (formerly Chrysler Fiat) and LG Energy Solution recently announced they will build a $5-billion automotive battery plant in Windsor. The Stellantis and LG plant is expected to employ 2,500 in 2024 when it begins production of batteries for the North American market.
Last week, Canadian auto parts giant Magna International announced it will open a plant in Chatham that will employ about 150 people to make battery enclosures for an electric version of Ford’s popular F-150 pickup truck.
In 2020, Ford of Canada announced plans for electric vehicle production at its Oakville plant with a $1.4-billion investment. It is expected electric Lincoln SUVs will roll off the line there in 2024 or 2025. It is believed to be looking to establish an electric-vehicle battery plant in Ontario with an Asian partner.
Honda also announced it will make electric-hybrid vehicles at its plant in Alliston, north of Toronto. Toyota is assembling hybrid vehicles in Ontario.