Ontario offer of $5B in tax credits to Stellantis 'the price of being in a global business,' minister says

Ontario’s minister of economic development says the province’s offer of up to $5 billion in tax credits to automaker Stellantis is 'the price of being in a global business.'

Ontario’s minister of economic development says the province’s offer of up to $5 billion in tax credits to automaker Stellantis is “the price of being in a global business.”

“I think Premier (Doug) Ford looked at the situation and said, ‘you know, we'll step up in order to help the federal government close their deal with Stellantis,” Vic Fedeli told CTV news Toronto from Tokyo, Japan.

“That's what it takes to protect the jobs of the people across Ontario. That's the price of being in a global business.”

Stellantis and LG Energy Solution confirmed Wednesday that a deal had been reached with the governments of Canada and Ontario for the construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.

The plant itself, set to cost about $5 billion, was first announced last year, but construction halted in May after the company decided to reopen negotiations for funding due to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The original deal saw the provincial and federal governments contribute $500 million each towards the plant. But after the United States passed the IRA, which offers companies production tax credits of up to $35 per kilowatt hour for each battery produced, Stellantis returned to Canadian both governments and asked them to match it.

At the time, the governments had reached a separate deal with Volkswagen by offering up to $13 billion in production subsidies.