The first electric delivery vans rolled off the line Monday at a General Motors Co. plant in Ingersoll, Ont., that has been making gas-powered vehicles for more than three decades.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

GM converts Ontario plant to Canada's first full-scale electric vehicle maker Back to video

The CAMI assembly plant was retooled to make the BrightDrop Zevo 600, making it Canada’s first full-scale electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility.

GM received $259 million each from the Ontario and federal governments in April for the conversion and aims to manufacture about 50,000 EVs a year at the plant by 2025.

“Eight months ago, we announced investments to retool the CAMI EV assembly plant … now, as the first BrightDrop electric vans come off the line, we get to see these results,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday at the opening of the plant.

The investment in GM is part of Canada’s goal to build a battery ecosystem that can produce EVs, the demand for which has accelerated in recent years as the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels.

“We are creating a whole supply chain … so that autoworkers here in Ontario will be able to build electric vehicles with batteries made in Quebec, from nickel mined in northern Ontario and lithium from Alberta with made-in-Canada steel and aluminum that are some of the cleanest in the world,” Trudeau said. “I can tell you that international investors are noticing.”

The United States, some European countries and Canada are trying to shift industry supply chains away from China, which dominates the EV sector, and towards friendlier nations.

The U.S. passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) earlier this year, which offers a US$7,500 subsidy for EVs made primarily from materials sourced in North America.

The legislation was considered a win for Canada’s mining industry, which is keen to supply the critical minerals needed to build electric vehicles.

But the U.S. tax incentives, grants and loans being used to boost the its transportation sector could also threaten Canadian companies if Ottawa doesn’t introduce new measures to keep pace, the federal government said at the launch of its fall economic statement.

Trudeau on Monday said the reopening of the Ingersoll plant is an example of how Canada is focused on “remaining competitive” and drawing in companies from across the globe.

In late October, the federal government raised the bar that foreigners must clear to join Canada’s critical minerals industry and it said deals that could be “injurious to national security” would require lengthy reviews. Days later, Ottawa ordered three Chinese companies to divest their investments in three Canadian junior lithium miners.

“We want to make sure that companies that do business with Canada, that allies who are relying on Canada will be able to rely on us to deliver on our commitments,” Trudeau said. “And that’s why making sure we are in control of our critical minerals; we (being) in control of manufacturing processes is extremely important.”

He added that countries are looking at the reliability of their supply chains, a concern that has been reinforced by the “fact that Russia went from a partner to Europe to an invader.”

Global carrier Deutsche Post AG (better known as DHL) will be using the vehicles made at the Ingersoll plant starting early next year, according to GM. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, also present at the event, said he was going to be “on the phone” over the next week with other potential customers including United Parcel Service Inc.

“This is an incredibly engineered vehicle and it’s environmentally friendly,” he said.

The GM plant reopening comes weeks after GM inked an agreement with Brazil-based Vale SA  to buy 25,000 tonnes of battery-grade nickel sulfate annually from the miner’s proposed plant in Bécancour, Que.

And Volkswagen AG on Dec 1. said it would explore sites in Canada to build the company’s first battery factory in North America.

Listen to Down to Business for in-depth discussions and insights into the latest in Canadian business, available wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the latest episode below: