Industry Minister Melanie Joly is in “regular contact” with Honda Motor Co., her office said, as a Japanese report suggests the automaking giant is halting its plans to construct a $15-billion electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Canada.
That comes as a spokesperson for Honda Canada told Global News that “the content of the article was not released by Honda, and we have nothing to report at this time.”
“American tariffs and changes to U.S. domestic policies are creating real pressures for automakers, prompting some to delay or scale back investments in electric vehicle and battery projects,” a spokesperson for Joly’s office said in an emailed statement, however, they did not clarify whether Honda had communicated any plans to scale back to Ottawa.
“We remain in regular contact with Honda and will continue to put Canadians’ interest first.”
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Canada’s auto sector was facing “challenges with U.S. tariffs,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
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“There’s challenges with the U.S. tariffs, unjustified tariffs, in the auto sector,” Carney said.
“We continue to work with companies in the sector, helping them reposition, reinvest, supporting workers there. We’ll continue to do what’s necessary, including getting the right deal that’s in Canada’s interest,” he told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday.
The report that Honda is considering halting its EV plans is “an indictment of the government’s auto policy,” Conservative trade critic Adam Chambers said.
“They put subsidies in the window to lure companies to suggest that they would build electric vehicles here, and that ended up forcing or causing some of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) here to move traditional vehicle production outside of Canada and to the U.S.,” Chambers said.
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Sluggish demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. has Honda set to freeze plans for the $15-billion EV plan in Canada, Nikkei Asia reported. The project was announced in 2024 and slated to begin production by 2028.
The federal government will “continue to support and protect existing automotive facilities by mitigating tariff pressures and sustaining the production of fuel-efficient vehicles,” Joly’s office said.
The project has already seen delays, with Honda announcing a two-year pause in 2025. At the time, Honda attributed the delay to “slowdown of the EV market.”
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Between the battery plant and its parts facilities, along with the electric vehicle facility retooling, the Honda project had been expected to create 1,000 jobs on top of retaining the existing 4,200 jobs at the assembly plant.
Under the original plan, the plant was set to produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year when fully operational in 2028.
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