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

The funding, effective March 30, will support the reopening of the plant later this year and help Ford produce 100,000 heavy-duty trucks annually while adding a metal stamping facility by 2029, according to multiple media reports. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government did not formally announce the funding package, but Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed the provision while speaking with reporters.

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

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 said it produced its first six Super Duty trucks at Oakville in April, according to The Globe and Mail.

Ford spokeswoman Rosemarie Pao told the Globe the automaker’s total investment in Canadian Super Duty production is approaching $5 billion.

“We’ve been a major part of Canada’s industrial landscape for nearly 122 years – investing in our facilities, supporting our workers and building for the long term,” she said in an e-mail to the Globe.

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton welcomed the federal support and Ford’s renewed commitment to the plant, which first opened in 1953. He said he was “happy and impressed” with the investment and the employment it will preserve. “I like Ford’s business strategy – to base the comeback of this assembly plant on the Super Duty model’s worldwide demand,” Burton said.

The investment comes as Canada’s auto sector faces pressure from U.S. tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles and amid broader declines in Ontario vehicle production over the past decade.

Pictured: Ford’s Oakville Assembly Plant in Oakville, Ont.

Photo: Shutterstock