TORONTO – Canada continues to focus on electric vehicles. Over the past four years, more than $46 billion has been invested by manufacturers of automobiles, electric vehicle batteries and battery components across the country, with billions more in the pipeline. The figure is already huge, but continues to rise: today, in fact, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, announced the investment of approximately 1.6 billion dollars by Asahi Kasei Corporation for build an electric vehicle battery separation plant in Port Colborne, Ontario.
Furthermore, in light of the medium to long-term growth forecasts of the electric vehicle market in North America, the company would like to make further multi-billion-dollar investments through multiple phases.
Asahi Kasei’s decision to build this new facility in Port Colborne “is a testament to Canada and Ontario’s competitive business environment, highly skilled workforce and dependable supply chains” reads the statement released by the office of the Prime Minister.
The project will benefit from federal support through the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. Ontario, in turn, plans to support this project with both direct and indirect incentives.
“Canada – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today – Canada bet big on electric vehicles, and today, the biggest manufacturers in the world are building them right here in Canada. Asahi Kasei’s investment is another vote of confidence in our auto industry and auto workers. We’re creating good-paying jobs, keeping the air clean, and putting Canada at the forefront of this exciting opportunity”.
“Today’s announcement – Premier Doug Ford said – is more good news for Ontario’s world-leading electric vehicle manufacturing sector and the thousands of workers who are benefiting from the billions of investments being made in our province. Asahi Kasei’s investment will bring economic growth and good-paying jobs to workers in Port Colborne and across the Niagara Region. It’s also yet another show of confidence in our government’s ongoing work to build a domestic EV supply chain in Ontario that benefits workers across the province, from critical mineral extraction in the Ring of Fire to battery manufacturing in Port Colborne and everywhere in between”.
“As demand for electric vehicles – and the lithium-ion batteries that power them – continues to rise, we are eager to bring the first Hipore™ wet-process lithium-ion separator manufacturing facility to Canada. Backed by the abundant renewable resources, skilled talent, and strong local community support here in Port Colborne, we will be able to better serve our partners in the region as well as the broader North American automotive market from this facility”, said Koshiro Kudo, President and Representative Director of Asahi Kasei Corporation.
However, the details regarding the direct jobs created by this investment have not been disclosed, at least for the moment: they are currently being defined and “will be announced at a later date”, as stated in the press release released today by the office of Prime Minister.
In the pic above, Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau during today’s conference (screenshot from the video on the YouTube page “Premier of Ontario”)
