Ford Motor unveiled details of a plan on Tuesday that will see it spend $1.8 billion at its Oakville assembly complex to turn it into a production center for electric vehicles.
The automaker said it would begin retooling the Ontario complex in the second quarter of 2024 and produce electric vehicles there in 2025.
General Motors already produces electric delivery vans in Canada, but Ford said this is the first time a full-line automaker has announced plans to produce electric passenger vehicles in Canada, for the North American market. .
Ford said the transformation of the Oakville site, which will be renamed Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will include a new 407,000 square foot battery plant where parts from the US operations will be assembled into battery packs.
The investment was first announced in 2020 amid labor negotiations with the company, with workers seeking long-term production commitments and the three Detroit automakers ultimately agreeing to invest in the Canadian operations of together with spending agreements with the Ontario and federal governments.
The announced amounts are just the latest in a wave of electric vehicle spending commitments in Canada. In particular, Volkswagen announced in March that it would build a battery cell factory in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Ford did not say in the statement which models it plans to build at the complex.