Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario Premier Ford is vowing to hold auto companies that pull out from Ontario “accountable” after news that Honda is putting a major electric vehicle supply chain planned for the province on hold.
Honda announced Tuesday that it will postpone aย $15-billionย electric vehicle investment in Ontario by two years due to a 59 per cent profit decline in the current fiscal year. However, the delay of the massive EV supply chain investment will have โno impactโ on jobs or production of Civics and CR-Vs in Alliston.
The halted investment is by far the biggest project delay yet in Canada as the outlook for EV growth softens. In a quarterly earnings press conference on Tuesday in Japan, chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said the company will look at where the electric vehicle market is in two years before deciding whether to keep going with the project.
“What happens after two years and the starting time of the project, we have to observe what is happening and ultimately make the decision,” he said, based on translated remarks.
The pause is the latest setback to Ontarioโs auto sector, already impacted by trade war uncertainty. General Motors recently cut jobs at one of its assembly plants and Stellantis has temporarily reduced staffing levels.
Premier Ford said he had talked to Honda officials about the delayed project that was to be an EV assembly plant and feeder factories with 1,000 direct jobs and thousands more spinoff jobs in parts production and construction of the new plants.
โThey promised us theyโre going to continue on with their expansion,โ the premier said in Pickering Tuesday. โTheyโre going to keep that facility moving forward, so weโll just see how that moves forward, but weโre very confident that weโll continue producing Honda vehicles here in Ontario.โ
Provincial and federal governments planned to provide $2.5 billion each to the EV project, but provincial officials says no money has been released.
Preconstruction ground preparations had started at the Alliston site, but not actual construction work.
The April 2024 announcement called the Honda plan the โlargest investment in Canadian historyโ with the Alliston facility growing from its current three plants to four as it retools to develop Canadaโs first โcomprehensive electric vehicle supply chain.โ
โTodayโs announcement is a historic investment by a manufacturer in the Canadian auto industry. It proudly honours the highly skilled associates who have earned a global reputation for manufacturing excellence and represents Hondaโs recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem,โ Jean Marc Leclerc,ย Honda Canadaโs president and chief executive officer, said at the time.
Premier Doug Ford said the jobs at the Honda facility can be multiplied by seven, with the spinoff jobs, as it adds to moreย than 28,000 related jobs.
โOntario has what it takes to secure the jobs of the future as the world leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, with better jobs and bigger paycheques for our world-class workers,โย Ford said.
By 2028, Honda would be operating a โworld-class electric vehicle assembly plantโ โ the first of its kind for Honda Motor Co.ย Ltd.
With files from Canadian Press