Trudeau, Ford to make announcement at 10:30 a.m. after $13B Volkswagen deal

A small city in southwestern Ontario steeped in automotive manufacturing history is set to boom again with the creation of a huge new electric-vehicle battery plant.

St. Thomas, Ont., Mayor Joe Preston says the new $7-billion Volkswagen battery plant gives the community a bright future.

Volkswagen will build a “gigafactory” on a 1,500-acre site that will produce enough batteries for one million electric vehicles each year.

The company says the plant will create up to 3,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs.

Ottawa has committed $700 million in up front capital costs towards the project while Ontario added $500 million.

Auto giant Ford built cars for decades in St. Thomas, but closed its assembly plant in 2011.

The mayor says he has not stopped smiling since they landed the Volkswagen deal last month.

READ MORE: Volkswagen to build EV battery plant in Ontario

“We’re winning in spades with this,” Preston said.

“We did not know it could grow to be this big and look at what happened here in St, Thomas, Ontario. Dare to dream.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023.

READ MORE: First electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Canada opens in Ontario