As some Ontario plants hit the brakes, are Canada's EV ambitions under threat?

The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."

The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality.

It was, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time, "big news" that Belgium-based Umicore chose Loyalist Township for its battery component production facility — evidence, the federal and provincial governments said, of success in the quest to make Canada a global electric-vehicle production hotspot.

But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."

It's not the only EV project facing delays, despite billions in public subsidies on offer. Trudeau's Liberal government, which promised to end the sale of gas vehicles by 2035, is getting long in the tooth, and consumer demand is slowing amid political uncertainty.

Experts suggest these are the growing pains of an industry that needs more time to develop. But that's not much comfort to the mayor of Loyalist Township, home to some 18,000 people near Kingston, Ont.

"It was a very concerning announcement for the entire community," Jim Hegadorn said in an interview at the local town hall, after Umicore said in late July it would delay spending on the construction of its facility.

The plant was previously expected to begin production in 2026 and create around 600 jobs. Some construction work, such as pouring concrete and installing pipes, has already been done, Hegadorn said, and the company has made promises to fulfil existing construction contracts.