Honda Canada is apparently ready to build an electric vehicle battery plant near its auto manufacturing facility in Alliston. The factory is slated to produce electric vehicles in the future.
The Canadian Press has learned that the federal and Ontario governments will make the announcement this week. Senior sources with information on the project confirmed the deal but were not yet able to give any dollar figures.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told a First Nations conference Monday morning there will be an announcement this week about a deal that will be double the size of a Volkswagen deal announced last year. The St. Thomas development is estimated to be worth $7 million.
The Honda facility would be the third electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario. The first two are the Volkswagen and Stellantis LG plant in Windsor. Securing those deals included billions of dollars in production subsidies to compete with the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act subsidies. The Canadian Press says Honda’s is expected to involve capital commitments and tax credits.
Negotiations took a major step forward that July, when Ontario sent a formal letter to Honda Canada, signalling its willingness to offer incentives for a battery plant and EV production. Honda Canada executives then met with Ford in November and December.