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2 bd 5 Thursday, April 20, 2023 | MANY PRODUCTION & EMPLOYEES T0 BE 2 PLACED ON © FURLOUGH DURING RETOOLING PERIOD DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com In_mid-2024, the Oak- vile Ford Assembly Plant -month pi wee of retooling and mod. ernizing to become the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex. Officials with Ford Mo- tor Company unveiled more details about the fu- ture of Oakville's Ford plant during a news confer- ence on Tuesday, April 11. They noted this $1.84 bil- lion transformation will al- low Ford to repurpose and FORD PLANT TO BEGIN RETOOLING IN MID-2024 alter existing buildings at the site to create a state-of- the-art complex that will begin producing battery packs and next-generation electric vehicles (EVs) in 2025. aid Bev Goodman, president and CEO, Ford Canada, "This is an impor- tant time for Ford as ihe company is million EV production 1 am rate globally by the end of 2026, and Oakville is going to play an important rolein that future as we invest $1.8 billion, with the help of the provincial and federal ae ernments, to retool ville Assembly Compl, transforming it into a hub of electric vehicle and bat- tery pack excellence." man noted the transition to EV produc- tion would not only strengthen Ford but help Graham Paine/ Metroland Oakville Assembly Plant to transform into Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex. deliver stable Canadian Ss s S. Oakville plant manager Tony Savoni said the Blant would be repurposing it existing buildings, Se ol dating its three body shors into one and transfc arts of the campus ‘io house a new 407,000- square-foot pattery pack assembly plant. He said work i is already underway to prepare for ume lement these chang “in “order to produce these next generation EVs, we need a _ workforce Iindividualy@orporationycsirust Payroll, HST including Overseas & Offshorepl: Tax Amnesty, & Reassessments Tax Audit, & Appeal CRA Collection Instalment Taxpayer Relief and Fairness Tssmcs GRAN Ying Yang Chartered Profes: Ac Member of Can dian Tax Foundation (647) 989-1276 trained in the latest battery and advanced manufactur- iechnologies,” said Sa- voni. "That is why all our employees will undergo skills Mjevelooment train- ing and on-the-job learning to prepare for the future." Savoni said the retool- ing process is expected to take six months, during which time _ salaried, skilled trades and some production employees will continue working. While Savoni was un- able to say how many em- ployees would be on fur- lough during this period, he did say that these pro- duction employees would return to work by the end of He said more details would be made available in the coming months. in said the Oak- ville Assembly Plant will continue to build the Ford Edge and the Lincoln Nau- tilus as the company pre- pares for the production of new EVs. Ford director of manu- facturing operations Dave Nowicki discussed how having \ ieraees production ack as mbly in ae pint solace aks efficiency. ‘When production on the all-new EV begins here, battery packs willarriveon the assembly line in min- utes. Not hours," he said- . "This kind of vertical inte- gration will drive incredi- ble freight savings and tim- ing efficiencies even as we are delive ering EVs atavery high sc: It was “ilso noted during the conference that the Oakville plant would re- (of-Taler-]oMet-VAar-1i cela) tain the flexibility to build multiple vehicle models, allowing it to market demand. Savoni said at present, 10 permanent job losses are anticipated as a result of the transformation. Ford's statements were wall received by Unifor Lo- 707, which represents the Oakville plant's union- ized workers. “Today's announcement is welcome news for Ford Oakville workers and their 's. The investment to retool our Plant i isabig win for all of us and our com- munity,” said Ma re Bren- nan, Unifor Local 707 Plant Chair, in a press release. “We have a proud histo- ry of building quality vehi- cles in Oakville and we are eager to see that continue by building next genera- tion electric vehicles." The Oakville plant re- tooling was described dur- ing the news conference as akey part of Ford's plan to scale EV production and make EVs more accessible to millions of customers. respond to i NAA? yangaccounting. ca Resolution canYgap CANADIAN GAP YEAR ASSOCIATION Wag Question? ae For an affordable solution to your Busi idual tax diffic Make an Appointment Today for ential Consultation insidehalton.com