2022 Automotive News Canada All-Stars

Aggressive moves by Ottawa as well as Ontario and Quebec have netted game-changing automotive investments amid the global industry’s historic shift toward electric vehicles.

Strategies including upping government incentives as well as overseas trade missions, promoting the country’s competitive assets, including its talent, abundance of critical minerals, clean energy and proximity to major markets have led to billions in EV supply chain spending.

Windsor, Ont., for example, will be home to a $5-billion battery plant, a joint venture between Stellantis and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. Quebec is enjoying an automotive resurgence, attracting projects, such as the partnership between General Motors and South Korea’s Posco Chemical. The pair announced plans to build a $500-million battery-components plant in Bécancour.

Kudos to our globe-trotting politicians, in particular, federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and his Ontario counterpart, Vic Fedeli, who have travelled to Europe, South Korea and Japan, pitching Canada as the ideal destination for automakers’ carbon-free, mines-to-mobility supply chains.

Champagne’s recent trip to Germany produced an agreement with Volkswagen Group, designating Canada as the preferred site for the automaker’s first North American battery plant.

In Bloomberg NEF’s most recent annual global lithium ion battery supply chain ranking, Canada jumped to second from fifth place.

Said Champagne, “Our vision to build a battery ecosystem from mine to recycling has ... positioned Canada as a leader.”