Canada is spending billions on EV investments. Here are the facts on where they stand

David Michael Lamb · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 3:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

Billions of dollars person been pledged by Canadian governments implicit the past fewer years to lure concern successful electrical conveyance production. The announcements came with fanfare and bold speech astir making Canada a large subordinate successful the planetary EV market.

Honda's announcement on Tuesday that its immense concern is being enactment connected clasp isn't the lone illustration of a task that has failed to unrecorded up to its billing. GM and Northvolt person some called a halt to large EV projects successful Canada.

Here are the facts connected wherever Canada's EV investments stand.

What is Honda putting connected hold, exactly?

In April 2024, Honda announced it would physique 4 caller plants. One would beryllium Honda's archetypal EV assembly plant, different would beryllium an EV artillery plant, some successful Alliston, Ont. There would besides beryllium 2 plants that marque components needed to physique the batteries.

It was to beryllium a $15-billion concern that would make 1,000 nonstop jobs and nutrient 240,000 vehicles a twelvemonth starting successful 2028. The national and Ontario governments each pledged $2.5 cardinal successful nonstop and indirect incentives to marque it happen.

Politicians draped the announcement successful superlatives. Justin Trudeau, the premier curate astatine the time, called it the "largest car concern successful Canada's history." Ontario Premier Doug Ford called it "a game-changer for the industry."

All of that is present not happening for astatine slightest 2 years. Honda said the determination was made due to the fact that of a slowdown successful EV request successful North America.

Volkswagen

In some dollar presumption and fanfare, the VW announcement successful April 2023 was besides big. It, too, was described arsenic a "game-changer," successful this lawsuit by the national innovation curate astatine the time, François-Philippe Champagne. Volkswagen announced it would walk $7 cardinal to physique an EV artillery works successful St. Thomas, Ont.

Once afloat operational successful 2027, it promises to employment up to 3,000 radical directly, who would marque batteries for up to a cardinal vehicles a year. It volition beryllium VW's largest works successful North America.

The national authorities said it pledged $13 cardinal successful subsidies to pull VW. But the parliamentary fund serviceman aboriginal said the magnitude was much similar $16.3 billion, adding it was excessively aboriginal to archer whether it would wage disconnected economically for taxpayers.

Once up and running, the batteries produced determination are expected to spell to conveyance assembly plants successful the U.S. For now, they whitethorn debar tariffs. The Trump medication imposed 25 per cent tariffs connected car parts, but astatine the past minute, it exempted parts taxable to the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.

Northvolt's bankruptcy

The Swedish artillery shaper declared bankruptcy successful March, and that matters to Canada.

Northvolt had planned to physique a $7-billion EV artillery works successful the Montérégie portion connected Montreal's South Shore. That concern was announced successful 2023, and came with $2.9 cardinal successful financing from the Quebec government and much than $4-billion worthy of incentives from the national government.

WATCH | Uncertainty about Quebec project's future:

For now, its aboriginal is profoundly uncertain. Northvolt's North American subsidiary said it was solvent and would conscionable its fiscal obligations. But that doesn't needfully mean the Quebec task volition spell up arsenic primitively planned.

Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette said, "Our privation is that the controller volition commencement looking for a purchaser who volition put to instrumentality implicit each North American activities and relaunch the Montérégie project." 

Stellantis works inactive connected track

The NextStar Energy artillery works is expected to travel online successful Windsor, Ont., later this year, though nary steadfast day has been set. It volition marque batteries for arsenic galore arsenic 450,000 Stellantis vehicles per year.

The $5-billion task was announced successful 2022 and is expected to employment 2,500 people. Construction stopped successful May 2023, aft Stellantis said the national authorities had not lived up to its commitments. The quality was resolved successful July 2023, erstwhile the national and Ontario governments agreed to a caller woody that includes $15 cardinal successful taxation breaks.

Some accumulation has present started. Last year, workers began assembling batteries into groups known arsenic modules. But accumulation of batteries themselves hasn't begun yet.

Shortly aft U.S. President Donald Trump took bureau successful January, rumours circulated that Stellantis had stopped operation and moved 1,500 jobs to the U.S.

The institution said this was false. "All of the investments Stellantis has made successful Canada are connected track," said Stellantis Canada caput of communications LouAnn Gosselin.

GM's EV works shuts down

GM has a mill successful Ingersoll, Ont., called the CAMI Assembly plant. As of past month, it employed 1,200 workers who marque electrical transportation vans called the BrightDrop Zevo.

In April, GM announced the works would unopen down wholly by May, with plans to re-open it astatine fractional capableness successful October.

Trouble with this works had been brewing for immoderate time. GM said it was making adjustments to align with "current demand." It acknowledged it lone sold 427 vehicles successful Canada successful 2024 and 1,529 successful the United States.

This contempt the information that planetary request for "last-mile" transportation vehicles is growing, according to Unifor, the national representing workers astatine the CAMI plant.