Ford, a major employer in the Calumet Region, plans to invest $1.8 billion to upgrade a Canadian plant to make electric vehicles for the North American market.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker, which runs the Chicago Assembly Plant on the far South Side and the Chicago Stamping Plant in Chicago Heights, plans to turn its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario into a hub of electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada. It plans to make 2 million electric vehicles a year worldwide by the end of 2026.
Ford will rename the campus the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex. It will repurpose existing buildings starting in the second quarter of next year and will ramp up to production of electric vehicles there in 2025. It’s the first time an automaker has made passenger electric vehicles in Canada for the North American market.
“Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford+ transformation. It will be a modern, super-efficient, vertically integrated site for battery and vehicle assembly,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “I’m most excited for the world to see the incredible next-generation electric and fully digitally connected vehicles produced in Oakville.”
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Ford is both transitioning existing plants into electric vehicle manufacturing sites and building greenfield factories like the BlueOval manufacturing operations in Kentucky and Tennessee and a lithium iron phosphate battery plant in Marshall, Michigan.
“Ford’s commitment to invest in OAC retooling and upskilling signals a bright future for Canadian EV production and for Canadian auto sector employment,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “The transformation of the Oakville plant is an important step towards a stronger industry and a testament to the hard work, skills and dedication of our Unifor Oakville Assembly Complex members.”
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The Ford plant spans over 487 acres, including an assembly building, a paint building and three body shops. After the transformation, it will add a 407,000-square-foot on-site battery plant.
The Oakville campus will make battery packs using cells and arrays from the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, a joint venture with SK that will support its ongoing electrification efforts. The company is now the second-largest electric vehicle maker in North America.
“Ford’s transformation from gas to electric vehicles is well underway. Once complete, the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex will secure thousands of well-paying jobs for our hard-working Canadian autoworkers and boost the competitiveness of Canada’s auto sector. The partnership between Ford and Canada helps to position us as a global leader in the EV supply chain for decades to come,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada.