Trudeau, Ford Mark Opening of New Ontario Electric Vehicle Factory

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford tour the General Motors CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont., on Dec. 5, 2022. The Canadian Press/Nicole Osborne

General Motors officially opened a factory in Ingersoll, Ont., today, making it the first assembly line production plant for electric vehicles in Canada, with both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on hand to mark the opening.

Trudeau told reporters at a news conference on Dec. 5, that the transformation of the plant, which now produces BrightDrop fully electric vehicles, happened in “record time.”

Both the province and the federal government gave $259 million towards GM’s $2 billion budget for upgrades to the plant and the conversion to make it able to produce electric vehicles (EV). The plant’s transformation was announced in April.

The vehicles produced by the plant will be mostly commercial for delivery purposes, with customers including FedEx, Walmart, DHL, and Verizon.

EV Sales Mandatory

By 2035, 100 percent of new light-duty car sales must be electric, the feds have said. A reported $3.3 billion has already been spent on rebates and subsidies since 2016.

To achieve the target of 100 percent market share for EV sales by 2035, sales would need to go from the current 5 percent to 15 percent of all new vehicle sales by 2025, and then to 60 percent of all new sales five years later, by 2030.

According to the federal government, the plant will produce 50,000 electric vehicles by 2025.

Premier Doug Ford called GM’s commitment to the plant “a massive vote of confidence'' in Ontario but said there was more work to do given the uncertain economy.

Five percent of Canadians surveyed indicate they currently own or lease an EV, according to a Nov. 15, 2021 report on how the country’s citizens view EVs. Ninety-five percent of Canadians surveyed did not have an EV, and 43 percent responded they did not intend to purchase one.