New St. Thomas VW plant will mean more jobs for Windsor-Essex too, industry pros say - Action News
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WindsorEV Jobs

New St. Thomas VW plant will mean more jobs for Windsor-Essex too, industry pros say

Invest Windsor Essex says it's already courting supply chain manufacturers, and the area is even more attractive now.

Invest Windsor Essex says the area is even more attractive to supply chain manufacturers now

Volkswagen to build EV battery plant in Ontario

2 years ago
Duration 2:03
Volkswagen has announced its building a major electric vehicle battery factory in St. Thomas, Ont. Slated to open in 2027, the factory is the first of its kind in Canada.

A new Volkswagenplant in St. Thomas willmean jobs for Windsor-Essex too as it helps cement the broader area as an electric vehicle (EV) hub.

That's according industry pros who say Windsor will beeven more attractive to supply chain manufacturers when there's anotherEV battery plant within a two-hour drive.

Windsor is alreadythe future home of a StellantisEV battery plant, which will employ about 2,500 people when it opens next year. Now Volkswagen says it will begin production in St. Thomas in2027. The number of jobs is still unknown, but it could be in the thousands. The manufacturer callsit its first overseas "gigafactory" for battery cell manufacturing.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, calls it "another vote of confidence" in Ontario's "lucrative battery ecosystem."

"These investments further secure Windsor's role as the checkpoint for Canada's battery link to the U.S. market," he said Monday.

"It's a huge win for suppliers who need multiple customers to bolster their long-term future here."

A forestry harvester clears trees from land recently annexed into St. Thomas from the Municipality of Central Elgin.
A forestry harvester clears trees from land recently annexed into St. Thomas from the Municipality of Central Elgin. The land is the future site of Volkswagen's first North American EV battery plant. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

Invest Windsor Essex is already courting supply chain manufacturers to locate here, says Joe Goncalves, vice-president of investment attraction and strategic initiatives. This just makes the area more attractive to them.

"There are supply chain companies that we're working with that are setting up here," Goncalves said. Now, "from here to London, we can become a global centre for supply chain."

Goncalves says his group is regularly in touch with Sarnia and Chatham so supply chain manufacturers who can't find everything they need in Windsor will consider those areas instead.

"We want them to stay in the region," he said.

Vic Fedeli, Ontario's minister of economic development and trade, announced the St. Thomas plant on Monday.

Mayor Joe Preston predicted "avery large plant with a very large workforce" for the town.

"We're already clearing the land and getting things ready for as fast as a construction that we can do," he said.

With supply chain manufacturers following, Preston said, "inthe long run, it's maybe more than we can dream."

Goncalves hopes so too. The St. Thomas plant, he says, is "wonderful news for us all."

"It will be a crown jewel in working as quickly as possible to land as many of those supply chain companies as we can."

With files from Colin Butler