Ontario, Canada is partnering with GE Canada by providing a grant of US$20.5 million for new GE Brilliant Factory – one of the world’s most technologically-advanced of its kind.
Expected to begin production in early 2018, the facility will produce energy-efficient engines and other components that are used all over the world. The Welland plant will be among the most advanced in GE’s global operations, and the first of its kind in Canada.
This decision by one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies to open a new plant in Ontario is reflective of the ample opportunities available due to the province’s environment of innovation, highly skilled workforce, and strategic location for access to international markets. In fact, about 80 per cent of the new facility’s production will be for export. Access to support from Export Development Canada (EDC) for global transactions, enabling GE’s customers to finance their future purchases, was key to locating the factory in Ontario.
According to Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, “GE’s decision to invest in Welland sends a clear message that our province has a lot to offer. Our government will continue to strengthen Ontario’s reputation as a great place to invest, so we can bring more jobs and growth to communities across our province.”
“This government’s top priority is to grow the economy and create jobs. We have a plan to make Ontario the best place in the world to do business and investments like this one from GE serve to show just how much confidence the private sector has in that plan. I am so pleased that GE has chosen to make its significant investment here,” says Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Growth.
The brand new 450,000 square foot facility will bring a world-leading “industrial internet of things” approach to advanced manufacturing, the next generation of technology development where physical devices – for example, a heart rate monitor, or a machine in a factory – are sensed and controlled remotely via the existing internet infrastructure.
According to John Rice, Vice-Chairman, GE, “The City of Welland becomes an important link in our global integrated network and the new future that we have charted for GE with the convergence of industrial and digital, and Canada has all the essential ingredients to succeed in this new digital industrial reality. Canada is a key partner to GE in seizing opportunities that contribute to domestic development, as well as export opportunities and global supply chain development, as we seek to meet the needs of our customers in 180 countries around the world.”
The plant’s machinery and assembly equipment will be fully integrated into a network of control systems, sensors and software. This offers an exceptional degree of control and flexibility, enabling the facility to produce a variety of components in response to market needs.
Ontario’s is enhancing its appeal as a place to grow a business by investing over $2 billion over 10 years through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund (JPF). Ontario is providing GE a conditional grant of $20.5 million through the JPF, leveraging an overall investment of over $185 million, and create 220 jobs over the next five years within Ontario.
“The outstanding support offered by the Ontario government, Niagara Region, and City strongly influenced our decision to build the factory in Welland. I look forward to continuing our close collaboration to create jobs and economic growth” says Elyse Allan, President and CEO, GE Canada.
GE is one of several global companies making major new investments in Ontario, attracted by strengths such as a competitive tax system, stable financial markets, and a highly skilled and trained workforce. These include:
- Fiat Chrysler is producing the first plug-in hybrid electric minivan built in North America, in Windsor, Ontario.
- General Motors will create more than 700 engineering jobs by enhancing its technical centre in Oshawa, establishing a software development centre in Markham and upgrading its cold-weather testing facility in Kapuskasing
- IBM, in partnership with Ontario Centres of Excellence, will help up to 500 small and medium-sized enterprises launch and market new technologies and products internationally.
- Google has created almost 400 jobs over the past 10 years in Waterloo Region, and designed its facility there with the capacity for 600 more jobs
- Huawei will create 250 jobs through an R&D project that will include establishing research labs in Markham and Waterloo and expanding its existing research facility in Ottawa.
QUICK FACTS
- GE has operated in Ontario since 1892, when Thomas Edison founded a factory in Peterborough. Today, GE Canada operates multiple facilities in Ontario and employs about 7,000 people across the country.
- Ontario utilized the site intelligence collected through the Investment Ready: Certified Site Program, the first province-wide site certification program in Canada to facilitate GE’s site evaluation and selection for its new facility.
- About 80 per cent of the GE’s Welland facility’s production will be for export.
