Ottawa and Ontario offer Stellantis an “aggressive package” to block Brampton plant sale

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday (Nov. 13) that the federal government and the Ontario government have put an “aggressive package” to Stellantis, and have worked out new proposals with Unifor, the union representing workers, in a bid to stop the automaker selling its idle Brampton assembly plant to Canadian armoured-vehicle maker Roshel. Joly said the parties remain in “solution mode” and that she plans to present the new proposals in person to Stellantis global CEO Antonio Filosa at an upcoming meeting, for which no date has been set.

A $2.5-billion auto fund is only “part of the solution”

Joly spoke alongside Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli at an auto-sector funding announcement in Vaughan, Ont., on Friday. Fedeli said the $2.5-billion federal-provincial auto fund would be “part of the solution, not all of it.” The new proposals came out of a meeting on Thursday between the two governments, Unifor and Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley.

The background: a default notice, $24 million and $529 million

Stellantis announced on Nov. 9 that it had agreed to sell the plant to Roshel, with the deal expected to close by the end of the year. On Nov. 12, Joly served Stellantis with a notice of default under a 2022 funding agreement, giving it 30 days to undo the sale and reopen the plant or face a lawsuit to recover “hundreds of millions of dollars” in subsidies. Stellantis has only offered to repay $24 million tied to the Brampton retooling, an offer Joly has rejected. Under the 2022 agreement, Ottawa committed up to $529 million to help retool the Brampton and Windsor plants to build electric vehicles; at least $220 million has been reported as paid out. The Brampton plant has been idle since 2024, when retooling for the Jeep Compass was halted and the model was cancelled, affecting about 2,000 jobs.

What happens next

Much now turns on whether the meeting between Joly and Filosa produces a deal, and whether Stellantis is willing to walk away from its plan to close the sale by year-end. Until then, the 30-day clock on the default notice keeps running.

(Cover image is a file photo of the Brampton Assembly Plant production line. Photo: Carscoops.)