TORONTO — Volkswagen’s PowerCo Canada has pushed production at its $7-billion St. Thomas battery plant to 2029, two years past the 2027 opening sold to the public in 2023 — and Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said Friday the slip is “extremely exciting” and “a great news story” because a shovels are now in the ground.PowerCo said Thursday it is lining the timeline up with “evolving market demand,” next-generation cells and the Volkswagen Group’s long-term plan. Chief procurement officer Joel Karlsberg called it “getting the pacing right — not stepping back.” The company named Mississauga-based EllisDon general contractor for core infrastructure and structural work. Construction continues on the 370-acre site, with the build crew expected to peak at 1,300; about 60 EllisDon workers are already there. Once open, the plant is still billed at about 3,000 jobs and up to 90 gigawatt-hours a year, enough cells for roughly one million EVs. Those jobs and that output are now at least two years further out. .The public money is already committed. Ontario pledged $500 million in direct incentives plus hundreds of millions more for roads, rail, water, power, and police and fire around St. Thomas. Ottawa put up $700 million in upfront capital and production support meant to match the old U.S. Inflation Reduction Act credit, widely reported at up to $13 billion over a decade and paid only on batteries made and sold. Fedeli confirmed Friday that Queen’s Park also spent on sewer and water with the city to open an industrial park “whether it was for PowerCo or others.” He would not say how much has flowed.He still treated the delay as a ribbon-cutting. “There are now shovels in the ground,” he said. “You can’t expect that building to open before 2029 when they’re starting in mid-26.” Trailers are mobilized, and he said the contractor will be at full production in a month. Asked if an on-time plant would be better news, he said VW had been holding off awarding the contract and now it is let. “They’re investing $7 billion in a new building… To me, this is like a massive relief.”.Fedeli added the cells are not only for EVs; the same prismatic packs can go into grid storage. Feeder plants that stamp cans and lids, he said, were waiting for a customer date and should now follow into that park, most of them European, on the Windsor-Nexstar model.He said tariffs under President Donald Trump are “here to stay” under this and future U.S. administrations, and that Queen’s Park has put forward $30 billion in tariff relief. His ministry paid almost $400 million last year to four auto and EV companies. Brampton “has no money from us,” he said, because Stellantis did not build or hire what it promised, so there is nothing to claw back. Toyota, General Motors, a Stellantis third shift, a coming Ford plant and parts-maker retools were his proof the sector is still moving.
