Toyota investing in southwestern Ontario production despite auto sector uncertainty

Alessio Donnini · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 2:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 25

Toyota is reconfiguring 2 of its southwestern Ontario manufacturing plants truthful that batteries tin beryllium assembled onsite for usage successful the adjacent procreation of RAV4 vehicles.

The Woodstock and Cambridge factories marque the SUVs, with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) saying the artillery packs person until present been assembled successful Japan, past shipped to Ontario.

"TMMC volition person artillery modules from Toyota's battery manufacturing works successful North Carolina, which TMMC volition past assemble into finished artillery packs," the institution said in a statement.

Confirmation of the determination from the Japanese automaker comes astatine a clip erstwhile the interaction of U.S. tariffs, and a changing electrical conveyance (EV) market, are reverberating done the car sector, including successful southwestern Ontario.

In April, General Motors announced a large simplification successful staffing and production at its CAMI assembly works successful Ingersoll, which it attributed to a displacement successful demand. In Windsor, workers astatine the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant were subjected to months of uncertainty and enactment stoppages, arsenic the automaker reacted to U.S. tariffs.

In May, Honda delayed plans to unfastened a large EV plant successful Alliston, adjacent Barrie, implicit tariffs and a slowdown successful EV sales.

TMMC said it hasn't had immoderate reductions oregon changes of program done the play of uncertainty.

The displacement the automaker has planned is simply a substance of efficiency, a spokesperson said, arsenic idiosyncratic artillery modules are much businesslike to vessel than assembled artillery packs 

Folding successful the process of assembling the packs volition necessitate immoderate retooling, but the institution wasn't consenting to stock what that process looks like.

The fig of radical employed astatine TMMC isn't expected to summation meaningfully contempt the changes coming to the operation, with a spokesperson saying the workforce "will stay comparatively stable."

"While artillery assembly is further work, we expect to person immoderate efficiencies successful different areas," the connection reads.

The institution said, with the 6th procreation RAV4 acceptable to commencement accumulation aboriginal adjacent year, the retooling volition hap progressively starring up to the commencement of production.

TMMC has 3 plants successful Ontario that employment astir 8,500 people. Two are successful Cambridge, 1 of which produces variants of the Lexus RX350. The remaining Cambridge works and the Woodstock works some nutrient the RAV4, and RAV4 hybrid.