Automotive News - Traverse City - August 6, 2019 - 14

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CAR MBS DAILY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019

Ontario fine-tunes its recruiting strategy
New focuses: Training and site marketing
Published April 8, 2019,
in Automotive News

John Irwin

jirwin@crain.com

ORONTO - The head of
Canada's auto parts supplier
association hopes Ontario's
$30.4 million plan to boost innovation and worker training will
help the province better compete with
the U.S. and Mexico for investment.
Ontario also plans to change the
way it markets greenfield plant sites.
The provincial government in February announced a "Driving Prosperity" plan with commitments that

include $14.4 million over the next
three years to pay for new company
internships, and $2.4 million to create an online training portal. Also
included is $7.6 million for a "modernization" program that offers
smaller suppliers up to $100,000 Canadian to fund projects to make
themselves more "productive, innovative and export-focused through
the adoption of technology."
Ontario has faced headwinds in recruiting auto sector investment in the
past few years. Flavio Volpe, president
of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, which represents
Canada's supply base, believes the in-

centives will help make Ontario more attractive.

the future of Canadian auto manufacturing have resurfaced in the wake of
General Motors' decision
to end production at the
Oshawa assembly plant in
Ontario by year end. According to the provincial
government, Ontario's auto production has fallen 25
percent since 2000.

Falling production

He dismissed the notion
that $30.4 million would do
little to reverse Canada's
sliding fortunes in automotive manufacturing, saying Volpe: Expects
larger funds should be re- incentives to help
served for attracting automaker investments.
"If you have hundreds of millions New strategy
of dollars, please use that with the
In another move, Ontario plans to
OEMs, and then partner with us on overhaul how it markets greenfield
skills and on production efficiency," sites to automotive companies. It inVolpe said of the association's sup- tends to start a "Job Site Challenge," in
plier members.
which municipalities will propose
The plan comes as questions about greenfield manufacturing sites of 500

Canadians
jittery about
auto jobs,
poll shows

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Published July 15, 2019,
in Automotive News
Greg Layson

glayson@crain.com

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to 1,500 acres. Selected sites will receive government support in targeting
the locations to potential investors.
In the past, provincial officials have
offered potential investors multiple
sites to consider to avoid playing favorites among local interests.
Volpe said the new approach will
help Ontario better compete with
southern U.S. states and Mexican
states, where site consultants typically focus on marketing a specific
piece of property to an interested industry investor.
Todd Smith, Ontario's minister of
economic development, job creation
and trade, said in a statement that
the new plan is "just the first step" in
working with the industry. a

7/15/19 8:57 AM

Most Canadians - especially
those in Ontario - don't believe
automotive jobs in the country are
secure, according to a national poll.
Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed by Forum Research Inc. say
auto industry jobs aren't secure. In
Ontario, where eight cities have assembly plants, almost two-thirds -
65 percent - of respondents share
that sentiment.
General Motors and Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles have cast a cloud over
the industry in that province. GM
plans to cease assembly at its Oshawa plant by year end, and FCA plans
to cut a shift at its Windsor factory in
October.
"Based on what Canadians have
seen or heard about the Canadian
auto sector, half (47 percent) of Canadians think the auto sector will decline over the next 10 years," Forum
said in a statement. "A third (31 percent) think the Canadian auto sector
will stay about the same."
In Ontario, the percentage that believes the sector will decline over the
next decade climbs to 54 percent.
"With shifts in the Canadian auto
sector, it's not surprising that Canadians don't think auto jobs are secure,"
Lorne Bozinoff, CEO of Forum Research, said in a statement.
Only 7 percent of respondents say
they believe the Canadian auto industry will grow over the next decade.
As in the U.S., the auto industry is a
large - and symbolic - part of the
economy. Reduced tariffs among
North American countries have
closely integrated supply lines, while
enabling automakers to shift production to Mexico, where labor and
other costs are lower.
The auto industry directly employs
more than 125,000 people in Canada,
with 400,000 more people in aftermarket services and dealership networks,
according to government statistics.
Five global automakers assemble
about 2 million vehicles at their Canadian plants each year.
Forum surveyed 1,812 voters by
phone between June 28 and 30. a

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Automotive News - Traverse City - August 6, 2019

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