The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 8, edition that the federal government is giving $464.5-million (Canadian) to Ford Motor to refit its plant in Oakville, Ont., to make heavy-duty pick-up trucks.
The Globe's Eric Atkins writes that the factory west of Toronto, which has been closed for retooling since 2024, will employ 1,800 people when it fully reopens later this year.
Ottawa's grant is effective March 30, 2026. It will help Ford produce 100,000 trucks annually and build a metal stamping facility by 2029.
The grant was first reported by The Logic.
The plant used to make the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus, but it closed for retooling as part of Ford's $1.8-billion plan to make electric vehicles. About 3,000 people were laid off.
The Ontario and federal governments were to contribute $295-million apiece to the EV transformation.
But as the growth in EV sales slowed, Ford scrapped the EV plan and said it would instead spend $2.3-billion (U.S.) to make Super Duty gas or diesel-powered trucks -- the F-250, F-350 and F-450 – in Oakville.
The trucks are highly profitable and in great demand in the United States. Ford produced its first six Super Duty trucks at Oakville in April.
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