Ontario will spend millions of dollars to train hundreds of auto workers, Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday as he defended his move to bend to the funding demands of the corporation building a Windsor electric-vehicle battery plant.
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Ontario will spend millions of dollars to train hundreds of auto workers, Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday as he defended his move to bend to the funding demands of the corporation building a Windsor electric-vehicle battery plant.
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The $4.7-million training and job placement programs Ford announced in London Wednesday will help more than 360 people land full-time work in the auto sector, including in machine operation, assembly, quality control and logistics.
“These new programs will provide women and men of all ages the opportunity for good-paying, in-demand jobs and rewarding careers in the auto industry,” Ford said at Transform Automotive, a parts manufacturer in south London.
“It will also help companies attract and retain the workers they need to grow and expand. It will help our province create a bigger pipeline of talent.”
The first program, to be managed by the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, will help 90 technicians and 70 job seekers improve their skills and launch careers in the electric vehicle sector.
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The training will be offered at Fanshawe College, Conestoga College’s Guelph campus and St. Lawrence College’s Cornwall campus.
“This is not just about the manufacturing sector for the automotive space in Ontario, it’s about the entire automotive industry, which includes the auto care sector,” said Jean-Francois Champagne, president of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada.
“This is what it’s all about. Ensuring that we continue to have in Ontario a vibrant manufacturing sector as well as the people with the skills to ensure we can continue to service, maintain and repair the vehicles of today and tomorrow.”
The second initiative, to be managed by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), will include three-month paid job placements with hands-on and online training in manufacturing essentials, health and safety, troubleshooting and other skills. Participants will transition to full-time employment when their placements end.
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“If we’re going to go chase big investments, we’ve got to train people for those new types of technologies,” said APMA president Flavio Volpe, adding Ontario has been on “the greatest investment run in the automotive history in this province” since Ford took office in 2018.
The investments come as Ontario jacks up its contribution to the Stellantis battery plant being built in Windsor. The auto giant stopped construction on the factory, demanding government funding akin to that promised to the Volkswagen electric-vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas.
Volkswagen’s plant – a $7-billion project that will employ 3,000 with a projected 30,000 spin-off jobs – could receive $13 billion in federal subsidies and up to $500 million in direct incentives from the province. The VW announcement was made last month.
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Stellantis, seeking increased government subsidies and funding after the VW deal, stopped construction on its $5-billion Windsor plant May 15.
Wednesday, Ford disagreed that ponying up more money to ensure Windsor’s plant opens would set a costly precedent for other auto-sector businesses looking to set up shop in Ontario, including those that will supply the VW plant when it opens in 2026.
“It creates economic development,” Ford said. “That town (Windsor), before we took office was hurting. It’s no different than St. Thomas. You could shoot a cannon down the streets of Windsor and not hit anyone.
“The people of St. Thomas remember when they had 5,000 jobs walk away. . . . We’re bringing economic growth, unprecedented economic growth, to Ontario.”
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The exact amount the Ontario government is now contributing to Stellantis has not been released.
Ford said the province is waiting on the federal government to finalize the deal with Stellantis, a global auto giant that includes Chrysler.
“We put in our fair share and we’re stepping up again with more money because it’s all about the people. It’s all about making sure they have jobs down in the Windsor region and right across Southwestern Ontario,” he said.
With site work already underway at the VW plant location in St. Thomas, Ford promised additional infrastructure investments – including road widening projects in the area – to support the factory and its suppliers.
“We’re going to make sure that we put the infrastructure in to support this community, on top of Volkswagen,” he said. “You can’t have a massive auto-part manufacturer like Transform Automotive or a company like Volkswagen and not have proper roads.”
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2023-05-24 17:05:13Z
CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vbGZwcmVzcy5jb20vbmV3cy9sb2NhbC1uZXdzL291ci1mYWlyLXNoYXJlLWRvdWctZm9yZC1kZWZlbmRzLW5ldy1jYXNoLWZvci1lbGVjdHJpYy12ZWhpY2xlLWJhdHRlcnktcGxhbnTSAQA
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