Ontario is partnering with Honda to make the company’s Alliston, Ontario plant one of the most innovative in North America.
The company intends to innovate and improve its three existing manufacturing plants in Alliston, ON – two auto assembly plants and one engine plant – with new technologies and processes.
Honda will invest about $857m over three years in leading-edge technologies for vehicle assembly and engine manufacturing, as well as worker training and research and development partnerships with Ontario universities and colleges. This project will also make Honda’s Alliston operations a teaching plant for all other Honda facilities worldwide.
The partnership reinforces Ontario’s position as a global leader in auto manufacturing, and will support 4,000 highly skilled jobs at the plant and thousands more in the supply chain.
Ontario will provide a conditional grant of up to $85.7m for this transformational project. Provincial support helped Honda of Canada Manufacturing in Alliston win out over other Honda plants which were competing to be chosen for this project. The province’s investment will help enhance workers’ skills and secure the Alliston plant’s long-term future.
“Our government is proud to partner with companies that are making the investments in innovation and skills that help us compete globally,” said Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario. “The fact that Ontario successfully competed for this project reinforces our position as a global leader in auto manufacturing, and it is a vote of confidence in our province as a great place to do business – now and in the future.”
This announcement comes as the company prepares for its unprecedented role as the global lead plant for the next generation of the Honda Civic, the best-selling passenger car in Canada for the past 16 consecutive years.
“We are deeply proud to be the lead plant for the next generation of Honda Civic, a designation that reflects the incredible efforts of Honda associates over the past quarter century to produce products of the highest quality for our customers in Canada and around the world,” said Jerry Chenkin, President and CEO of Honda Canada Inc. “This marks the first time a Honda plant outside Japan has been designated as a ‘global lead plant’, which reflects the knowledge and experience of our Canadian associates.”
The move, which was announced late last year, comes at a time of difficulty for Honda with it’s UK plants struggling to match the performance of other UK manufacturers such as Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover.
