MONTREAL – Recently In Eastern Canada, an electric vehicle plant was opened by the Japanese auto giant Honda, says the Canadian government source which is well aware of the multibillion-dollar project.According to the source,the federal government as well as the province of Ontario, where the plant is supposed to be built, will both provide some financial support for the deal. The official announcement is supposed to happen on Thursday, even though Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinted at the deal on Monday.
“We have landed a new deal this week. This will be one of the largest deals in Canadian history. It will be double the size of Volkswagen,” says Doug Ford, referring to a battery plant that was announced last year, for which the German automaker promised Can$7 billion (U.S.$5 billion) in investment.
In recent years, Canada has been positioning itself as an attractive destination for electric vehicle investment, touting tax incentives, renewable energy access, and its rare mineral deposits. In Alliston, The Honda plant, to be built an hour outside Toronto, will also produce electric vehicle batteries, joining existing Volkswagen and Stellantis battery plants.
When the news of this deal first came up in the Japanese press in January, recently the Nikkei newspaper predicted that it would be worth Can$14 billion which are figures backed up by Canadian officials. Last week the federal budget announced that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had introduced a new business tax credit, which grants companies a 10 percent rebate on construction costs for new buildings that are used in key segments of the electric vehicle supply chain.
Canada’s strategy follows that of the neighboring United States, whose Inflation Reduction Act has provided many incentives for green industry. By 2040 Honda wants to sell only zero-emission vehicles and to go carbon-neutral in its operations by 2050.
