It was all hands on deck as ground was broken for a first-of-its-kind electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility in Loyalist Township.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, federal Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, and provincial Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade Vic Fedeli joined the company at its new site to commemorate the launch.
Township Mayor Jim Hagedorn thanked Umicore for selecting Loyalist as the home of their North American facility.
Umicore announced its firm investment decision for the first stage of $2.1 billion. That’s up from the $1.5 billion when first announced in July 2022.
The facility will manufacture cathode active materials and precursor cathode active materials, critical components for producing EV batteries.
As past mayor for the Township when this partnership first began, Hastings-Lennox and Addington MPP Ric Bresee told myFM how he felt after the first ground was broken.
Bresee says they now need to match that with housing and healthcare, and to make sure they can service all of these jobs. And not just these jobs, but everyone else who will come because of it.
The facility is going to be a huge part in the EV evolution, he shared.
During the initial stage, the company will establish 600 job positions and provide an extra 700 co-op opportunities for students.
Written by Emily Chatwood