Ottawa has reached an agreement with the Belgian company Umicore for the construction of a new battery factory in eastern Ontario.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Kingston on Wednesday morning to announce this partnership. The new facility, in Loyalist Township, will provide materials for one million electric vehicles per year, he said.
Mr. Trudeau says the new plant will create a thousand jobs during its construction and hundreds of long-term positions once it is fully operational.
“Canada will not only be a global player in the electric vehicle sector: with this announcement and others that we have made, we are demonstrating that we are becoming leaders in the world”, declared the Prime Minister in a press briefing. at Queen’s University, Kingston.
Umicore plans to invest $1.5 billion to build the cathode and precursor materials plant, the provincial government said, noting that cathodes are about half the value of an electric vehicle battery.
Trudeau said such investments are part of a “big bet” that Canada can become a key international player in electric vehicle supply chains.
“We have stepped up major announcements, most in partnership with the Ontario government, which span the entire supply chain,” he said. people understood that […] Canada is a very interesting place to invest. »
Energy, resources and skills
Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore, said that three reasons had led the Belgian company to choose the canton of Loyalist and Ontario for this “giga-factory”.
“First, for the availability of clean energy,” Miedreich said. This is the thing to do if you want to build an electric vehicle. »
Miedreich adds that Canada’s “unique” resource availability compared to all of North America also made it an enviable choice. ” The third [raison] was the availability of skills, sharp skills, here in particular in the Loyalist Township area and in Kingston,” he said, this time speaking of a “determining” factor.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made no secret that he wants the province to be a leader in every step of the electric vehicle manufacturing process, from critical minerals needed for batteries, to final assembly. .
Federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in Kingston that the new plant will fill a gap in Canada’s electric vehicle system, strengthening a key part of the battery manufacturing process.
“The auto sector now extends across the country, it’s not just concentrated,” Champagne said. But now Kingston is going to be part of the auto industry in Canada. »
The township of Loyalist said construction of the Umicore plant is expected to begin next year, with operation scheduled for the end of 2025.