Ottawa aware of Stellantis Brampton plant sale to Roshel for months, source says
A government source said federal officials had been briefed on Stellantis' plan to sell its Brampton assembly plant to light-armoured vehicle maker Roshel, a deal criticized by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly.
The federal government was informed for several months about Stellantis' intention to sell its Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant to Roshel Inc., a light armoured vehicle manufacturer, according to a source with direct knowledge of the transaction. The source said both the Prime Minister's Office and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's office were regularly briefed on the deal since August, and that CTV News first reported the government's involvement.
Stellantis announced on Monday that it would sell the plant, prompting Prime Minister Mark Carney to call the move "a betrayal of the workers as it is a betrayal of the obligations to Canada." > "A betrayal of the workers as it is a betrayal of the obligations to Canada," Carney said.
More than 2,000 workers were laid off after Stellantis halted operations in 2023 to refit the facility for Jeep Compass production. Both Carney and Joly have condemned the proposed sale, and Joly is expected to convene a meeting of stakeholders in Toronto on Thursday to discuss options for the displaced workers.
A senior government source clarified that Joly did not facilitate the Roshel deal and would not have approved a transaction lacking union support. The source added that the minister could not block the sale before it was finalized.
The sale follows a 2022 agreement announced by the former Trudeau government, under which Ottawa pledged up to $529 million to retool Stellantis plants in Brampton and Windsor for electric and gas-powered vehicle production. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also pledged up to $513 million, but CBC News confirmed the province has not provided funding because the retooling project did not meet job-creation and milestone conditions.
Ford warned Carney in a letter that the plant should not be used to assemble "Chinese-made knock-down kits," expressing concern that such kits would harm Canada’s automotive sector. > "We cannot undermine the future of Canada and Ontario’s automotive sector by allowing the introduction of Chinese-made knock-down kits at the Stellantis Brampton facility," Ford wrote.
Ford has repeatedly rejected the notion of the Brampton facility being used for Chinese vehicle assembly, a scenario first raised in a February Bloomberg News report linking Stellantis to Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology. At a news conference, Ford reiterated his stance, saying, "We can't bring in kits from China. Can't happen. That will bastardize the whole sector. Unacceptable. We need them to find a vehicle, a model that works."