OTTAWA – A third major electric-vehicle battery plant will be built in Canada just east of Montréal in Québec, rather than Ontario, and run by Sweden-based Northvolt, with 60 GWh of annual cell manufacturing capacity.
Northvolt, which also operates EV battery manufacturing plants in Sweden, plans to start its Canadian operations in 2026, employing up to 6,000.
Among the benefits to the company is Quebec’s 94% reliance on hydropower for electricity production (buttressed by other renewable sources), enabling Northvolt to sell its batteries as “sustainable.”
Northvolt co-founder and North America CEO Paolo Cerruti (pictured, below left) says the site has “enormous potential, not only to rapidly expand our ability to bring sustainable batteries into markets of North America, but to accelerate Québec’s emergence as a key actor in the global energy transition.”
Brian Kingston, Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Assn. CEO and president, says Québec has been successful in attracting EV supply-chain investments and its “renewable electricity is a huge component” of that work: “They have a world-class investment agency that has zeroed in on critical minerals and battery supply chain projects, and we’re starting to see the fruits of that labor,” he tells Wards.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, the Québec provincial government’s minister of economy, innovation and energy, has focused on the battery supply chain “engaging with industry and attending auto battery shows,” Kingston says. Federal government support “making sure that Canada is competitive with the (U.S.) Inflation Reduction Act” has also been important, he adds.
The result of investments has been two joint ventures – a GM/POSCO Future M cathode plant planned for Bécancour, Québec; a Ford/SK On EcoPro BM battery materials plant at the same location; and now the Northvolt deal.
Will there be additional investments to attract BEV and battery plants in the province? Kingston says Quebec “is so close to the traditional manufacturing facilities in Ontario, it forms part of (its) battery supply chain.” Further investment announcements, he says, are possible:
Commenting on this latest deal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says: “When electric vehicle batteries are made in Quebec, it’s a win-win-win – for workers, for communities and for the environment.”
The announcement comes after the Canadian and Ontario governments announced in July they would invest up to C$15 billion ($11 billion) into the Stellantis and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Windsor, and the federal government pledging between C$8 billion ($6.3 billion) and C$13.2 billion ($9.7 billion) to Volkswagen until 2032 underpinning a VW battery plant in St. Thomas.
David Adams, president, Global Automakers of Canada, calls the Northvolt deal a “vote of confidence in Canada (having) all the prerequisites to support the North American EV ecosystem.”
He adds, “The more battery plants we have in Canada the greater the chances that there will be potential EV assembly in Canada as batteries are large, heavy and challenging to transport, so you’d want battery production in close proximity to vehicle assembly.”
