Ford Motor Company has announced a $1.25-billion investment across its Canadian manufacturing facilities, which are based in Southern Ontario.

The company’s Canadian subsidiary said it will make the investment over the next three years. The investment comes after Unifor members ratified a new national collective agreement covering more than 5,000 hourly employees.

The investment will cover plants in Oakville, Ont., Windsor, Ont., and Essex, Ont. Unifor said the agreement’s job-security provisions include the renewal of a no-closure agreement and program commitments at all Ford facilities, including a third shift at the Essex Engine plant in Essex, slated for 2029.

“This agreement is about investing in our people and Canada’s future,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford. “With this agreement and our continued investments in Oakville, Windsor and Essex, we’re building on more than a century of manufacturing leadership in Canada and strengthening Ford’s ability to compete and win for years to come. We’re proud to invest in Unifor’s strong leadership and in our outstanding Canadian employees, dealers and customers.”

Farley added: “A strong, integrated North American manufacturing system is essential to our competitiveness, and a revised [Canada-USMCA is critical to fending off the cost and currency advantages enjoyed by imported vehicles from Korea and Japan.”

The planned investment includes $700 million to expand engine production at the Essex Engine Plant, including a forecast third shift and continued growth of 7.3-litre engine production, as well as a previously announced $550-million investment in the Oakville Assembly Complex in Oakville.

The three-year agreement also provides employees with a 9% general wage increase over the life of the contract, a $10,000 ratification bonus for eligible full-time permanent employees, a $2,000 bonus for temporary employees, pension and benefit improvements, and higher starting wages for new hires.

“Our members have ratified a strong agreement that delivers real gains and much needed stability despite unprecedented challenges facing Canadian autoworkers and the entire industry,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Negotiating during a crisis is never easy, but our driving goal was to make a wide range of improvements for all of our members building on the gains made in 2023.”

Payne was referring to increased U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports, which affect the automobile and autoparts-manufacturing processes extensively, and strained Canada-U.S. trade tensions.

“There are many who counted us out, who wrote our industry, our autoworkers, and our union off. Those who said we should just accept [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s goal of eliminating us,” said Payne. “This contract shows we refuse to be counted out. This round of auto bargaining was about making progress for our members, but also it was about sending a message that we [i.e. the Canadian auoto industry] are not going anywhere,”

The new investment builds on Ford’s previously announced $5-billion transformation of the Oakville Assembly Complex into a Super Duty truck plant with the company’s first Canadian stamping operations, as well as nearly $4 billion invested across its Canadian operations over the past decade.

“The strength of Ford has always been our people,” said Bev Goodman, president and CEO at Ford of Canada. “This agreement recognizes the skill, dedication and contributions of our employees, while reinforcing our shared commitment to Ford’s future in Canada. It positions us to continue investing in our operations, from launching Super Duty at Oakville to growing our engine programs in Windsor and expediting parts delivery to our dealers through our parts distribution centres across the country.”

As Connect previously reported, the federal government is providing Ford with $464.5 million to help refit its assembly plant in Oakville, Ont., for the production of its Super Duty pickup trucks.

The Oakville facility, which has been closed for retooling since 2024, is expected to employ 1,800 workers when fully operational.

“With multi-hundred-million dollar investments in our facilities and a plan to return every laid off member in Oakville to work, this agreement means our members at Ford are in a solid position now and over the next three years,” said John D’Agnolo, who chairs Unifor’s master bargaining committee covering members who work at the Southern Ontario Ford plants.

The Oakville plant previously produced the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus before Ford halted operations as part of a planned $1.8-billion EV transformation that resulted in approximately 3,000 layoffs.

Ford later abandoned the EV strategy amid slowing electric-vehicle demand and instead committed US$2.3 billion to manufacture gas- and diesel-powered Super Duty trucks — including the F-250, F-350 and F-450 — at the site.

Ford began producing Super Duty trucks in Oakville in April, according to The Globe and Mail.

Pictured: Meredith Keenan, vice-president of human resources for Ford of Canada (left) and Unfor President Lana Payne celebrate the ratification of a new three-year collective bargaining agreement tied to $1.25 billion worth of investments at the authomaker’s Southern Ontario manufacturing plants.

Photo: CNW Group/Ford

Photo: Shutterstock