After touting superlatives for weeks, Honda on Thursday announced it is pouring $15 billion into building a ‘complete’ EV supply chain in southern Ontario with the help of the provincial and federal governments.The company is also receiving $5 billion — $2.5 billion each from Ottawa and Queen’s Park — in taxpayer dollars to build four new manufacturing plants, including a standalone car factory and battery plant in Alliston, ON.That’s in addition to a cathode active material and precursor processing plant through a joint venture with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. and a separator plant through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corporation. More announcements are expected to follow..The Japanese automaker made the announcement on Thursday morning in Alliston, ON at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.The company expects the facilities to produce 240,000 vehicles per year when they’re completed in 2028. The plants will supply both the US and Canadian markets.In a statement, Honda said the initiative represents “recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian EV manufacturing ecosystem… for a future increase in EV demand in North America," with the battery plant capable of producing 36 gigawatt hours (GWh) of capacity per year. “Following the initiative to establish our EV production system capability in the US, we will now begin formal discussions toward the establishment of a comprehensive EV value chain here in Canada, with the support of the governments of Canada and Ontario,” global CEO Toshihiro Mibe said. “We will strengthen our EV supply system and capability with an eye toward a future increase in EV demand in North America.”.The project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs, adding to the 4,200 employees the company currently has at its two existing manufacturing facilities in Ontario.Unlike previous deals with Volkswagen and Stellantis, the money will come in the form of tax credits as opposed to direct handouts. Volkswagen received $16 billion while Stellantis got $15 billion. On Wednesday, the Toronto Sun reported that the deal just about went south when federal ministers including Francois-Philippe Champagne — who was conspicuously absent — demanded that some of the plants be located in Quebec.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the Trudeau and Ford governments to for giving $5 billion to Honda. “The Trudeau and Ford governments are giving billions to yet another multinational corporation and leaving middle-class Canadians to pay for it,” said Jay Goldberg, CTF Ontario Director. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sending small businesses a bigger bill with his capital gains tax hike and now he’s handing out billions more in corporate welfare to a huge multinational. “This announcement is fundamentally unfair to taxpayers.”
After touting superlatives for weeks, Honda on Thursday announced it is pouring $15 billion into building a ‘complete’ EV supply chain in southern Ontario with the help of the provincial and federal governments.The company is also receiving $5 billion — $2.5 billion each from Ottawa and Queen’s Park — in taxpayer dollars to build four new manufacturing plants, including a standalone car factory and battery plant in Alliston, ON.That’s in addition to a cathode active material and precursor processing plant through a joint venture with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. and a separator plant through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corporation. More announcements are expected to follow..The Japanese automaker made the announcement on Thursday morning in Alliston, ON at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.The company expects the facilities to produce 240,000 vehicles per year when they’re completed in 2028. The plants will supply both the US and Canadian markets.In a statement, Honda said the initiative represents “recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian EV manufacturing ecosystem… for a future increase in EV demand in North America," with the battery plant capable of producing 36 gigawatt hours (GWh) of capacity per year. “Following the initiative to establish our EV production system capability in the US, we will now begin formal discussions toward the establishment of a comprehensive EV value chain here in Canada, with the support of the governments of Canada and Ontario,” global CEO Toshihiro Mibe said. “We will strengthen our EV supply system and capability with an eye toward a future increase in EV demand in North America.”.The project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs, adding to the 4,200 employees the company currently has at its two existing manufacturing facilities in Ontario.Unlike previous deals with Volkswagen and Stellantis, the money will come in the form of tax credits as opposed to direct handouts. Volkswagen received $16 billion while Stellantis got $15 billion. On Wednesday, the Toronto Sun reported that the deal just about went south when federal ministers including Francois-Philippe Champagne — who was conspicuously absent — demanded that some of the plants be located in Quebec.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the Trudeau and Ford governments to for giving $5 billion to Honda. “The Trudeau and Ford governments are giving billions to yet another multinational corporation and leaving middle-class Canadians to pay for it,” said Jay Goldberg, CTF Ontario Director. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sending small businesses a bigger bill with his capital gains tax hike and now he’s handing out billions more in corporate welfare to a huge multinational. “This announcement is fundamentally unfair to taxpayers.”
