The Liberal government is preparing to deliver its throne speech tomorrow on September 23, 2020. When it is delivered, Canadians will learn about their plans to bring electric vehicle (EV) battery production to Canada.
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains told Radio-Canada the plan will create tens of thousands of jobs by bringing together the country’s resource and manufacturing sectors.
“We recognize we have a unique opportunity to take advantage of our skilled labour force and we know we have a long and proud history of manufacturing vehicles, planes, ships and trains, and we also have an abundant amount of natural resources. We could be a world leader in [electric vehicle] battery manufacturing if we leverage our natural resources like lithium, cobalt … nickel, aluminum — the key ingredients that are required in batteries. Then we want to make sure that we manufacture them here and … use them in our trains, our buses, our ships and our planes.“
Bains said Canada needs to make a move so that it can position itself to be a primary supplier of EV batteries for North America. He said such a move could also lead Canada to becoming a global leader in EV battery manufacturing.
The government is taking the green technology sector and EV market seriously. It was revealed yesterday the federal and Ontario governments are offering up to $500 million to Ford to bring EV manufacturing to the company’s Oakville Assembly Plant.
