Automotive News Canada - March 2022 - 1

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MARCH 2022 | VOL. 6, NO. 3 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
Two materials plants jump-start Canada's battery industry
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
MAJOR INVESTMENTS IN
Canada by General Motors and the
Germany-based chemical giant BASF
will lay the foundation of the country's
electric-vehicle (EV) supply
chain and spur further spending on
battery mineral mining and processing,
Canada's industry minister and
Separate GM and
BASF announcements
for the same Quebec
city tap Canada's raw
materials to build EVs
other experts say.
François-Philippe Champagne,
federal minister of innovation, sciBécancour's
advantages include
strong infrastructure links through
rail, road and a deep-water port.
PHOTO: SOCIÉTÉ DU PARC INDUSTRIEL
ET PORTUAIRE DE BÉCANCOUR
ence and industry, called GM's plan
to build a $500-million cathode active
materials (CAM) plant in Bécancour,
Que., with partner Posco Chemical a
" home run " for the province.
The automaker's March 7
announcement came on the heels of
BASF's unrelated decision March 4 to
build a similar battery-material comSEE
FEDS PAGE 22
A hot real estate market and rising e-commerce
threaten to push manufacturers out of Ontario
By DAVID KENNEDY
A DECADE
after the last Ford
Crown Victoria
rolled off the line
at the St. Thomas
Assembly Plant
just outside
Sweeney:
Industrial land
uses involving
manufacturing
have up to six
times greater
local economic
benefit than
warehouses.
FILE PHOTO
London, Ont.,
construction
crews have begun
preparing the former
Ford Motor
Co. site for a new
industrial use.
Broccolini, a
developer that
has built fulT
ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
fillment centres in Ontario and
Quebec for retail giant Amazon.
com Inc., bought the 622-acre
(250-hectare) swathe of land last
summer and is transforming the
INDUSTRIAL
LAND USE
Champagne:
" The next
piece of the
puzzle is to
get a battery
manufacturing
plant. "
SUPPLIED PHOTO
site into a warehousing hub.
As desirable Ontario land grows
increasingly scarce, shuttered factories
are more likely to be redeveloped
for uses other than manufacturing,
according to a recent
study by the Trillium Network for
Advanced Manufacturing.
Coupled with rising land and
rent costs, the trend threatens to
push current Ontario manufacturers
and new investment out of the
province, said Brendan Sweeney,
managing director of the Trillium
Network. The nonprofit organiSEE
LAND PAGE 24
SHORT-SITED
The site of the
former Ford
St. Thomas Assembly
Plant near London, Ont.,
will be the home of
a warehousing hub
instead of
manufacturing.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
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Honda Canada CEO Jean Marc Leclerc says the
automaker's investment ensures Ontario remains
globally competitive. Also in attendance are Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, background, and Ontario
Premier Doug Ford, right. PHOTO: DAVID KENNEDY
Honda's $1.4B
hybrid future
in Canada
Production of the ICE and electrified
CR-V crossovers is slated for fall
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
THE HONDA CR-V HYBRID WILL BECOME THE
latest electrified vehicle built in Canada this fall as the
automaker invests $1.4 billion to retool its Alliston, Ont.,
facilities to produce the new sixth generation of the compact
crossover.
Top company and government officials, including
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford
and Honda Canada Inc. CEO Jean Marc Leclerc were in
Alliston, 100 kilometres north of Toronto, on March 16
SEE HONDA'S PAGE 24
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Automotive News Canada - March 2022

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