Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, ..

 Honda to build Canada’s first comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain, creating thousands of new jobs in Ontario

April 25, 2024
Alliston, Ontario

From mining critical minerals to building cars and batteries, Canadian businesses and workers are attracting historic investments to help secure and create jobs, grow our economy, and keep our air clean. In the last four years, automotive and battery makers have announced more than $31 billion in investments in electric vehicle manufacturing across Canada. They want a reliable partner with world-class talent, and this is exactly what we have to offer.

And the world is taking notice.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, today welcomed Honda Canada’s milestone investment of approximately $15 billion to create Canada’s first comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain, located in Ontario.

This large-scale project will see four new manufacturing plants in Ontario. Honda will build an innovative and world-class electric vehicle assembly plant – the first of its kind for Honda Motor Co., Ltd. – as well as a new stand-alone battery manufacturing plant at Honda’s facilities in Alliston, Ontario. To complete the supply chain, Honda will also build a cathode active material and precursor (CAM/pCAM) processing plant through a joint venture partnership with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. and a separator plant through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corporation. Once fully operational in 2028, the new assembly plant will produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year.

Honda’s investments in an electric vehicle assembly plant and a battery manufacturing plant in Alliston will create over one thousand well-paying manufacturing jobs in Ontario, with the CAM/pCAM processing plant and separator plant helping to create thousands of additional direct and indirect jobs in Ontario and across Canada, including during the construction phase and across Ontario’s leading auto parts supplier and research and development ecosystems.

This investment is a strong vote of confidence in Canada and Ontario’s highly skilled workers, strong economies, and competitive business environments.

Canada’s auto sector has been an engine of economic growth, driving innovation and creating good middle-class jobs. As the demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, we will attract even more investment and position our auto, battery manufacturing, and battery material production industries as global leaders across the entire electric vehicle supply chain, to create economic growth and opportunities now and for generations to come.

Quotes

“Today’s announcement is a game changer for manufacturing in Canada. Honda’s investment is a vote of confidence in Canada, in Canadian auto workers, and in our manufacturing sector. Together, we’re creating good-paying jobs, growing our economy, and keeping our air clean.”

The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

“Today’s historic $15 billion investment by Honda delivers on our government’s promise to bring back manufacturing as part of our plan to rebuild Ontario’s economy, with thousands of good-paying union jobs and economic benefits for workers and families across the province. From our abundant critical minerals in the Ring of Fire to our highly skilled workforce, Ontario has what it takes to secure the jobs of the future as the world leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, with better jobs and bigger paycheques for our world-class workers.”

The Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario

“Canada is home to the talented workers, raw materials, clean electricity, and specialized production capabilities needed to build electric vehicles. Today’s announcement ‒ Honda’s largest investment in North America ‒ is about seizing that opportunity for Canadian workers. We are securing Canada’s electric vehicle advantage by building out the entire electric vehicle supply chain ecosystem, from raw materials to battery manufacturing to auto assembly lines ‒ ensuring workers benefit today and for decades to come.”

The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

“As the world shifts toward more sustainable vehicles, Canada is seizing the opportunity and positioning itself as a global leader when it comes to building the cars of the future. This historic investment by Honda is a testament to Canada’s attractive and competitive business environment. With a highly skilled workforce, clean energy, an abundance of critical minerals, access to markets, and a flourishing electric vehicle ecosystem, Canada has everything that companies like Honda need to grow.”

The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

“Several years in the making, Honda’s historic investment represents a vote of confidence in Ontario’s status as a leading jurisdiction in the global production and development of electric vehicles, batteries, and battery materials. As our province continues to build a fully integrated end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain, Honda’s investment will play an integral role in advancing the innovative technologies that will define the future of automotive design, while securing thousands of good-paying jobs for workers in Alliston and across the province. Thank you, Honda, for choosing Ontario.”

The Hon. Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

“Honda of Canada Manufacturing is one of the premier automotive manufacturing facilities in the world and, for nearly forty years, our work has been guided by determination, innovation, and a relentless drive to evolve. Today’s announcement is a historic investment by a manufacturer in the Canadian auto industry. It proudly honours the highly skilled associates who have earned a global reputation for manufacturing excellence and represents Honda’s recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem.”

Jean Marc Leclerc, President and Chief Executive Officer, Honda Canada

Quick Facts

• In Budget 2024, the federal government announced its intention to introduce the new 10 per cent electric vehicle (EV) Supply Chain investment tax credit, to attract investment across at least three supply chain segments:
  • EV assembly.
  • EV battery productions.
  • Cathode active material production.
• The new EV Supply Chain investment tax credit is the government’s sixth major economic investment tax credit and complements the 30 per cent Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit. The government is focused on delivering all major economic investment tax credits on a priority basis.
• It is estimated that Honda’s new investments in eligible EV supply chain segments could benefit from federal support in the range of $2.5 billion through the proposed EV Supply Chain investment tax credit and the proposed Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit.
• The Government of Ontario will provide support of up to $2.5 billion for these segments through various direct and indirect incentives.
• Planning for Honda’s new facilities in Alliston is expected to be finalized in the next six months, at which point the company will release additional details. Honda, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario are working together to support this project.
• Honda’s proposed full EV supply chain will include a new CAM/pCAM processing facility through a joint venture partnership with Korean battery materials company POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. as well as a new separator facility through a joint venture partnership with Japanese chemical company Asahi Kasei Corporation. Both of these facilities will be located in Ontario, with announcements to follow in their respective communities.
• This project is part of Honda’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. The company is targeting sales of 100 per cent zero-emission EVs in North America by 2040.
• Honda is a global automotive industry leader headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was the first Japanese automaker to produce cars in Canada. It established Honda Canada in 1969 and started production in Alliston, Ontario, in 1986. These facilities – Honda’s only manufacturing facilities in Canada – currently include two auto plants and one engine plant. They have the capacity to produce more than 400,000 vehicles and 190,000 engines annually. The company employs over 4,200 people in Alliston and has a network of more than 280 dealerships across the country.
• The governments of Canada and Ontario previously made matching investments of $131.6 million to help Honda Canada retool its manufacturing operations in Alliston for the next generation of hybrid EVs.
• This is the latest in a series of historic investments Canada has attracted across our EV supply chain, from mining to manufacturing. With Honda’s new project, these investments now total more than $46 billion since 2020. They also include, among others:
  • $7 billion for a new EV battery manufacturing facility built by Northvolt Batteries North America in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, Quebec.
  • $7 billion for Volkswagen’s first overseas EV battery manufacturing plant, in St. Thomas, Ontario.
  • Over $5 billion from Stellantis and LG Energy Solution to create a joint venture for the manufacturing of EV batteries in Windsor, Ontario.
  • $1.8 billion for Ford’s repurposed battery-EV production plant at its Oakville Assembly Complex, in Ontario.
  • $1.5 billion for Umicore to build a new world-leading net-zero facility in Loyalist Township, Ontario, which will produce essential components of EV batteries.
  • $1.2 billion for a new battery materials production plant in Bécancour, Quebec, built by a consortium formed by the Ford Motor Company and South Korea’s EcoProBM and SK On.
  • $600 million for a CAM facility to be built by a joint venture between General Motors and POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. in Bécancour, Quebec.
• Budget 2023 introduced a refundable Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit to cover 30 per cent of costs in new machinery and equipment used to manufacture or process clean technologies and extract, process, or recycle key critical minerals.
• Canada’s automotive sector builds more than 1.5 million vehicles each year – one every 21 seconds. It supports nearly 550,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributed $18 billion in 2023 to Canada’s gross domestic product, and is one of the country’s largest export industries. It is anchored by the presence of five automotive manufacturers: Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Honda.
• Transportation accounts for about a quarter of our emissions in Canada. That’s why the Government of Canada has an ambitious target of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, coupled with a suite of support measures from charging infrastructure to purchase incentives.
• It is projected that the global sales of EVs will be over three times higher in 2030 than it was in 2023, and Canada is well positioned to be a major player in EV production.

Associated Link

• Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation

Building homes on public lands

April 24, 2024
Halton Region, Ontario

One of the biggest pressures on people right now is housing. Young Canadians are being priced out of their communities. Families are finding it difficult to get a good place to settle down. Rising rents and the high cost of buying a home are making it more difficult for younger generations to find a place to call home. We need more homes in Canada and we need to keep them affordable.

Right now, governments across Canada are sitting on surplus, underused, and vacant public lands, like empty office towers or low-rise buildings that could be built on. By unlocking more public lands for housing, we can lower the costs of construction and build more homes, faster, at prices Canadians can afford.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today highlighted new measures included in Budget 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan to build more affordable homes on public lands – and make housing fairer for every generation.

Canada’s Housing Plan lays out a bold strategy to unlock 3.87 million new homes across the country by 2031, including 250,000 homes through a new Public Lands for Homes Plan that includes:

• Reviewing the federal government’s entire portfolio of federally owned land and properties to rapidly identify sites where new homes can be built.
• Making more land available for housing by identifying and building on underutilized public lands as well as acquiring new lands.
• Leasing public lands as opposed to selling them off so public land stays public and affordable homes stay affordable.
• Launching a new public land bank and mapping tool to help homebuilders more easily identify and navigate public lands.
• Introducing legislation to facilitate the acquisition and use of public lands for homes, in partnership with other orders of government.
• Accelerating administrative timelines to make public lands available for affordable housing faster.

We will also make better use of existing land. This includes:

• Building homes on Canada Post properties. With a large portfolio of land, Canada Post has more than 1,700 post offices in over 1,700 communities across the country. Many of these sites often house one-storey Canada Post buildings, which could be leveraged to build new homes across the country, while maintaining Canada Post services.
• Building homes on National Defence lands. National Defence owns property in every province and territory, and these properties are often underutilized. We’ll redevelop National Defence properties that are suitable for military and civilian use and divest surplus properties that are not required for National Defence operations but have the potential for housing.
• Converting underused federal offices into homes. The federal government owns a lot of office buildings and half of them are either underused or entirely vacant. We’ll reduce our office footprint, convert these offices into homes – especially in urban areas – and prioritize student housing and affordable housing.

Alongside these measures, Budget 2024 will also:

• Provide $500 million to launch a new public lands acquisition fund, which will buy land from other orders of government to help build middle-class homes.
• Top-up the Federal Lands Initiative with $117 million to unlock more federal lands for affordable housing providers, with a minimum of 1,500 homes.
• Make public lands available more quickly by scaling up the Centre of Expertise on Disposals. With an investment of $20 million, Public Services and Procurement Canada will advance collaboration with key government and industry partners.
• Invest $15 million in the recently announced Public Land Bank and mapping tool. This funding will develop a public land bank, including an interactive geo-spatial mapping tool to better plan the use of public lands.
• Support and expand the activities of the Canada Lands Company through an investment of $5 million to build more homes on public lands.

We will continue to explore ways to leverage our low-cost financing, including through our new Canada Builds initiative, to encourage provinces and territories to build more homes, including on their public lands. Changing the way we build housing to solve the housing crisis will take a Team Canada effort, and no single order of government, home builder, not-for-profit, or community can do it alone. We need every order of government doing their part to build the homes Canadians need.

We’re building more homes and making sure they’re affordable – and it’s just one of the things included in Budget 2024. Alongside these measures, we’re investing in innovation, growing our economy, strengthening health care, and making life more affordable so that every generation can get ahead.

Quotes

“We have a lot of public land in Canada that’s underused or vacant. With Budget 2024, we’re unlocking this land for construction and building thousands of new homes – so that you have a good place to call your own, at a price you can afford. We’re cutting red tape, building more homes, and making the housing market fairer for every generation.”

The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

“Our plan is about fairness for every generation. Over the past weeks, we’ve been sharing with Canadians our new and ambitious plan to solve the housing crisis – and to help ensure that Canadians, especially younger Canadians, are better able to afford their rent or mortgage payments. We are turbocharging the construction of more homes and making housing more affordable for everyone.”

The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

“Public lands can help play a major role in building more homes faster and making housing more affordable. With Budget 2024, we are accelerating the process of converting surplus federal properties into housing and enabling the construction of additional housing units. In doing so, we will restore the promise of Canada, where every generation can afford a place to call home.”

The Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement

“In order to overcome the housing crisis, we need to work with partners across the country. And by unlocking public lands, we will do just that – to help build more homes for Canadians at prices they can afford.”

The Hon. Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

Quick Facts

• In Budget 2024, the Government of Canada also announced it is urgently unlocking five federal properties that will be leased to housing providers to build over 800 new homes:
  • Nearly 500 homes in Ottawa, Ontario.
  • Over 100 homes in Montréal, Quebec.
  • Nearly 100 homes in Calgary, Alberta.
  • One hundred homes in Toronto, Ontario.
  • Over 40 homes in Edmonton, Alberta.
• The federal government will launch a new Public Lands Action Council this spring to spur collaboration and equip all players – from government departments to industry experts – with the tools they need to build homes on public lands. The Council will bring together key stakeholders to identify specific lands across Canada with high potential for housing and take concerted action to accelerate construction on these lands. This group will also help shape the federal government’s approach to building homes on public lands.
• A new Deputy Minister of Public Lands and Housing position has also been created within the Privy Council Office. The Deputy Minister will oversee and report on federal efforts to build more homes for Canadians through the use of public lands, providing a single point of accountability within the public service. An appointment to this role was announced recently.
• On April 12, 2024, the federal government released its ambitious housing plan, Solving the housing crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, supported by new investments from Budget 2024. At the heart of this plan lies a commitment to make housing affordable so that no hard-working Canadian spends more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. The plan acknowledges the diverse needs of Canadians and is centred around these three pillars:
  • Making it easier to own or rent a home by ensuring that every renter or homeowner has a home that suits their needs, and the stability to retain it.
  • Helping Canadians who can’t afford a home by building more affordable housing for students, seniors, persons with disabilities, equity-deserving communities, and eliminating chronic homelessness in Canada.
• Building more homes by bringing down the costs of homebuilding, helping cities make it easier to build homes at a faster pace, changing the way Canadian homebuilders manufacture homes, and growing the workforce to ensure we get the job done.
• The Government of Canada’s Budget 2024 was tabled in the House of Commons by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on April 16, 2024.
• Budget 2024 announced the government’s intention to launch a new Canada Post Housing Program to help affordable housing providers build on disposed or leased Canada Post properties. Details will be available later this year.
• To help solve Canada’s housing crisis, Budget 2024 also proposes to:
  • Restore generational fairness for renters, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, by taking new action to protect renters’ rights and unlock pathways for them to become homeowners. Learn more.
  • Launch a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the construction or upgrade of essential infrastructure across the country and get more homes built for Canadians. Learn more.
  • Top-up the Apartment Construction Loan Program with $15 billion, make new reforms so it is easier to access, and launch Canada Builds to call on all provinces and territories to join a Team Canada effort to build more homes, faster. Learn more.
  • Support renters by launching a new $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund to preserve more rental homes and make sure they stay affordable. Learn more.
  • Change the way we build homes in Canada by announcing over $600 million to make it easier and cheaper to build more homes, faster, including through a new Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund and a new Housing Design Catalogue. Learn more.
• Canada is already building more homes faster and making housing more affordable through:
  • The Apartment Construction Loan Program, a $40 billion initiative that will be topped up with an additional $15 billion in Budget 2024 to boost the construction of new rental homes by providing low-cost financing to homebuilders. Since 2017, the Apartment Construction Loan Program has committed over $18 billion in loans to support the creation of more than 48,000 new rental homes. With our recently announced measures, the Apartment Construction Loan Program is now on track to help build over 131,000 new rental homes across Canada by 2031-32.
  • The Affordable Housing Fund, a $14+ billion initiative that supports the creation of new market and below-market rental housing and the repair and renewal of existing housing. It is designed to attract partnerships and investments to develop projects that meet a broad spectrum of housing needs, from shelters to affordable homeownership. As of December 31, 2023, the Fund has committed $8+ billion to repair or renew over 150,000 homes and support the construction of more than 32,000 new homes.
  • The Housing Accelerator Fund, a $4 billion initiative that will be topped up with an additional $400 million in Budget 2024 to encourage municipalities to incentivize building by making transformative changes, such as removing prohibitive zoning barriers. To date, the federal government has signed 179 Housing Accelerator Fund agreements which, combined, will fast-track an estimated total of over 750,000 housing units across the country over the next decade.
  • The Rapid Housing Initiative, a $4 billion fund that is fast-tracking the construction of 15,500 new affordable homes for people experiencing homelessness or in severe housing need by 2026. The Rapid Housing Initiative also supports the acquisition of existing buildings for the purpose of rehabilitation or conversion to permanent affordable housing units, focusing on the housing needs of the most vulnerable, including people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, women fleeing domestic violence, seniors, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities.
• Progress on these and other programs and initiatives under Canada’s National Housing Strategy are updated quarterly at www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map shows housing projects that have been developed.
• Since 2015, the federal government has helped almost two million Canadians find a place to call home.

Related Product

• Backgrounder: More Affordable Homes

Associated Links

• Fairness for Every Generation
• Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation
• Solving the housing crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan

Statement by the Prime Minister on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day

April 24, 2024
Ottawa, Ontario

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, also known as Medz Yeghern:

“Today, we join Armenian communities in Canada and around the world to mark Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. We reflect on this dark chapter in history, honour the victims who lost their lives, and reflect on the trauma that so many still endure.

“Twenty years ago, the Government of Canada joined members of the international community in officially recognizing the historic and tragic reality of the Armenian Genocide. This recognition carries a deep significance for many Canadians, and especially Armenian-Canadians. Together, we will ensure the stories of those affected are never forgotten.

“In Canada, April marks Genocide, Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month, which reminds us of the consequences of indifference. We must remember and honour the memories of the victims lost to the Armenian Genocide. We must stand up against hate and stand for diversity, inclusion, and human rights – it is our shared, collective responsibility.

“Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a time for reflection and remembrance. As we observe this solemn day, I encourage all Canadians to learn about the events that led to this senseless loss of humanity. Let’s build a society where everyone feels safe from discrimination and violence.”

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