Governments of Ontario and Canada Partnering with Honda to Strengthen Alliston Assembly Operations
New Delhi; January 12, 2016: The governments of Ontario and Canada are partnering with Honda Canada to help the company modernize its Alliston assembly operations, ensuring the plant remains competitive and helping to secure the next generation of vehicle production in the province.
The investment will go towards:
- Design and build of a new state-of-the-art paint shop that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the paint process by 44 per cent
- Leading-edge vehicle assembly technologies, including lightweight materials and advanced material bonding techniques
- Research and development to support production of future vehicle models, including software upgrades and prototyping of new components.
These upgrades will secure 4,000 direct jobs at Honda’s Alliston facility, and thousands more in Ontario’s automotive supply chain. They also position the Alliston facility to remain competitive in the longer term.
According to Brad Duguid, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure, “Technology and innovation never stand still, so it’s essential that Ontario’s auto sector remains globally competitive. Honda is a cornerstone of our sector — accounting for about 17 per cent of Ontario’s vehicle output. With this partnership, the company and provincial and federal governments are joining forces to ensure that Honda’s skilled Alliston team remains a leader in building the vehicles of tomorrow.”
Premier Kathleen Wynne, together with Minister Duguid, recently met with Honda executives, including Honda Canada CEO Jerry Chenkin, at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo as part of a business mission to Japan and South Korea. The mission strengthened Ontario’s global business ties and showcased the province’s strengths in automotive innovation and advanced manufacturing.
Supporting the auto industry is part of Ontario’s plan to create jobs, grow their economy and help people in their everyday lives.
According to Navdeep Bains, Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, “Our government’s support for advanced-manufacturing platforms and clean technology in the auto sector is a key part of our plan to drive economic growth through innovation to create a better Canada. That means better jobs, better opportunities and better living standards for all Canadians.”
ADDITIONAL QUOTE
“Thank you to both the Ontario and Federal governments for creating an environment which will allow us to further modernize our manufacturing facilities and make innovative upgrades possible, including building a state-of-the-art paint shop which will reduce the GHG emissions from our paint process by 44 per cent, further reducing our manufacturing carbon footprint in Canada. As a result of these upgrades, Honda Canada Manufacturing will continue to provide thousands of well-paying, high quality jobs in Alliston and throughout Canada”.
— Jerry Chenkin, President and CEO, Honda Canada Inc.
QUICK FACTS
- The Governments of Ontario and Canada are each providing Honda with conditional grants of up to $41.8 million. Honda will invest up to $408.3 million for a total project investment of up to $492 million.
- Ontario is the only subnational jurisdiction in the world with five global automotive assemblers — Honda, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and Toyota — as well as truck manufacturer Hino.
- Vehicle assembly and auto parts production directly supports more than 100,000 jobs in Ontario, with hundreds of thousands more spin-off jobs across the province.