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Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is serving Stellantis a notice of default after the automaker shifted some of its production to the United States.
“We will stand firm for the sake of our workers, our industries and our nation because defending these jobs means defending Canada’s economic backbone and the livelihoods of countless families,” Joly told the international trade committee in Ottawa Thursday.
Stellantis announced in October it was moving planned production of its Jeep Compass from Brampton, Ont. to Illinois.
The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump upended the North American automobile industry with his tariffs. The president has repeatedly said he doesn’t want cars made in Canada and boasted this week about Canadian auto plants relocating to the United States.
Stellantis’ production shift breaches federal contracts tied to manufacturing in Brampton and Windsor, Ont., Joly told the committee. The minister has faced tough questions over those federal funding agreements since the automaker announced the shift.
One is a special contribution agreement between NextStar Energy, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Stellantis, and the federal government for a battery plant for electric vehicles in Windsor.
Another agreement sets out how the federal government would provide NextStar with some $500 million in funding through the strategic innovation fund.
Joly Thursday had tense exchanges with Conservative MP Adam Chambers over if and when she read the contracts between Ottawa and the Stellantis.
The minister, who was not in charge of the file when the contracts were negotiated, said she read the contracts around Oct. 15 after receiving 24-hour notice from Stellantis Global CEO Antonio Filosa that the company was announcing the production move.
Joly said she delved into the contracts to hold Stellantis accountable because “we can’t open that floodgate of basically our automakers leaving the country.”
Joly said the contract for federal funds for a Windsor battery plant included a job guarantee in Brampton.
“What was clear in that contract is that the investments in the battery plants — which was super important, which we stand for and will continue to defend — were linked to the Brampton facility,” Joly said. “And that’s why we say it’s on the hook.”
Ottawa last month launched a dispute resolution process against Stellantis. In a letter to Filosa, Joly wrote that Stellantis agreed with the Government of Canada and Ontario to maintain its “full Canadian footprint, including Brampton, in exchange for substantial financial support.”
“Anything short of fulfilling that commitment will be considered as default under our agreements,” the October letter said.
When pushed Thursday by Chambers as to whether the contract included a guarantee for 100 per cent of the jobs in Brampton, Joly responded “what I can tell you is there’s a job guarantee.”
Some 3,000 workers remain furloughed at the Brampton plant. They were laid off while the company was revamping its facility to prepare for the new production line. That work has been on pause since February.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.
— with files from Kyle Duggan in Ottawa
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
