Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Doug Ford arrive in Alliston today and are expected to announce that Honda is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston as part of a $15 billion investment.
High-level sources with information on the project have reported that Honda is also converting its Alliston assembly plant to produce fully electric vehicles.
The $15 billion project includes a converted plant, an electric vehicle battery plant nearby and two key battery parts plants elsewhere in the province.
Honda could take part in a recent federal government proposal in the budget that would provide a 10 percent tax credit for investments in the electric vehicle supply chain, which Honda could claim in addition to an existing 30 percent tax credit for investments in clean technologies in manufacturing.
The Honda plant will be the third electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario, following Volkswagen in St. Thomas and a Stellantis LG plant in Windsor.
Honda’s deal also reportedly involves two key parts suppliers for its batteries, with the locations of these facilities to be announced later.
The deal came after years of meetings and discussions between Honda executives and the Ontario government, which began after the last major government announcement at Honda’s Alliston plant.
Executives from Trudeau, Ford and Honda were present in March 2022 when the automaker announced hybrid production at the plant, with each of the two levels of government receiving $131.6 million in support.
That sparked talks about a larger potential investment in electric vehicles, and negotiations began in the summer, the sources said.
With files from CP.
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