Automotive News Canada - September 2023 - 1

$1.2B battery materials plant in Quebec to support Ford EVs
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SEPTEMBER 2023 | VOL. 7, NO. 9 | AUTOMOTIVENEWS.CA FOR BREAKING NEWS AND DIGITAL EDITION
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
FORD MOTOR CO. WILL JOIN
rival General Motors in turning to
a small city in central Quebec to
produce cathode active material for
electric vehicle batteries.
Drake: The new facility
is a " cornerstone " for
Ford in North America.
PHOTO: FORD MOTOR CO.
Ford, along with partners EcoPro
BM Co. and SK On Co., announced
on Aug. 17 plans to build a $1.2
billion battery materials plant
in Bécancour, midway between
Three-way venture billed as a 'strategic'
investment in automaker's supply chain
Montreal and Quebec City.
The automaker's first investment
in Quebec will produce material to
power Ford EVs, including some
of its future pickups, according to
Lisa Drake, vice-president of EV
Industrialization for Ford Model e.
" This facility is a cornerstone
for Ford Motor Co. in all of North
America. That's how important
this plant is to us, " she said in
Bécancour.
Drake joined Ford Canada
President Bev Goodman, executives
from EcoPro and SK On, as well as
top federal and provincial government
officials at the announcement.
François-Philippe Champagne,
Canada's minister of innovation,
science and industry, said
the investment will strengthen
Canada's battery ecosystem and
serve as a key part of the battery
supply chain Ford and SK On are
building in North America.
" I know this is a strategic investment
because this plant needs to
work for all your other plants to
work. "
SEE FORD PAGE 24
A SPECIAL FEATURE ON THE 'EPIDEMIC' OF AUTO THEFT IN CANADA
GONE IN
15 SECONDS
70,000 VEHICLES
STOLEN IN 2022
KEY FOBS AND OTHER
TECHNOLOGY MAKE
CRIME EASIER
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
A TWO-DAY RECRUITING DRIVE IN
early 1995 saw more than 25,000 applicants
queue up in frigid January
weather to put their names
in contention for future production
jobs at GM Canada's
NEWS
ANALYSIS
Oshawa campus. Parka-clad job seekers
stood in line between snowbanks, lit barrel
fires to keep warm and caused backups on
Highway 401 for a shot at job postings paying
$22 an hour, according to contemporary
press reports.
WHAT ACTIONS ARE
GOVERNMENTS AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT TAKING?
THERE'S NO SILVER BULLET
FOR TACKLING AUTO THEFT
SEEKING THEFT REASSURANCE
THROUGH INSURANCE AND
OTHER F&I PRODUCTS
DEALERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS
LOOK TO AVOID FINANCIAL LOSS
Adjusted for inflation, wages
at Detroit Three plants in
Canada have only gone
backward, potentially limiting
the industry's attractiveness
when it needs new blood
Nearly 30 years later, as the latest round
of contract talks between the Detroit Three
and Unifor head down the stretch, such
a scene is nearly unimaginable, with the
quality of auto assembly jobs among the
key reasons, labour experts say.
P22-23
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Auto workers make only $2/hour more to start than 28 years ago
Ross: The differences
in wages and pensions
between new and
veteran workers are
" very corrosive to union
solidarity. " SUPPLIED PHOTO
The trade-off for young workers weighing
a job at a Canadian auto plant " isn't as
great as it used to be, " said Stephanie Ross,
an associate professor of labour studies at
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
" It used to be that these were jobs that you
could have a life based on. You could have
a whole long-term future. You could buy a
house. "
Adjusting for inflation, the $22 per hour
that applicants were offered in 1995 translates
into $39.57 an hour today, according to
the Bank of Canada inflation calculator.
But in unadjusted, nominal dollars,
starting wages at Detroit Three plants in
Canada have only crept forward by the
slimmest of margins over the past 28 years.
Under Unifor's 2020 collective agreements
with GM, Ford Motor Co. of Canada
and Stellantis, new staff start at $24.26 per
hour, 65 per cent of the top-end hourly wage
of $37.33, which takes eight years to reach.
SEE HIGHER PAGE 24
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Automotive News Canada - September 2023

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