A 1st in Canada, $1.6B EV battery separator plant to open in Port Colborne, Ont., in 2027
CBC
A small city nestled in southern Ontario's Niagara Region will be home to a new $1.6-billion electric vehicle (EV) battery plant that was officially announced Tuesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford were among politicians in Port Colborne to speak about the investment by Japanese company Asahi Kasei Corp.
Mayor Bill Steele said Asahi Kasei's investment is the biggest in the city in the past century.
"You're going to see the resurgence of all kinds of new industry that will tie in, not just with EV battery trade," he said. "It's going to give a whole boost to the city."
The facility will be Canada's first lithium ion battery separator plant.
Asahi Kasei Corp., in partnership with Honda, will build battery separators, which prevent the anode and cathode from coming into contact and causing a short circuit, but still allow the lithium ions to move back and forth.
Honda recently said it's building an EV battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles as part of a $15-billion project to create a supply chain in the province for the automaker.
Steele said Asahi Kasei has already been taking orders and the plant should be operational in 2027. It'll take up half of a 162-hectare parcel of land along Highway 140 that's owned by BMI Group.
The company will invest more money as the plant's construction progresses, he added.
Asahi Kasei president Koshiro Kudo told reporters Tuesday the company has been aiming to build a separator plant abroad for the past few years, looking in Europe and the United States before settling in Canada.
"We have learned that there is a huge enthusiasm coming from the federal government, provincial government and the local municipal government," he said through a translator. "Also, we have [found] that there are plenty of great quality human resources available here."
Steele said the city has been in talks with the company for nine months.
He said Port Colborne's "welcoming people" and access to rail, water, highways and the Canada-U.S. border as reasons Asahi Kasei chose the city.
Trudeau said Canada's natural resources are the driver behind EV investments.
In advance of what is expected to be a hot summer, the City of Kamloops is encouraging homeowners to request a free assessment of their properties to make sure they are resilient in the face of wildfire.
Friday may have been the first day of spring, but winter storms are not over yet for Newfoundland.
Daniel Doody says his trip to the Yukon earlier this month was ruined when he learned his luggage wouldn't arrive with him.
The future of a national historic site in Fredericton is up for discussion at meetings across New Brunswick in the next few weeks as the Anglican diocese considers what to do about costly repairs needed at Christ Church Cathedral.
EDITOR'S NOTE: CBC has removed the names and photo from this story. Now that the people are no longer missing, their identity is no longer in the public interest.
Brandon’s firefighter-paramedic union is sounding the alarm about a new provincial directive it says could leave the city without local ambulances when residents need them most.
CBC's road trip series Land of Living Stories explores inspiring stories of community spirit from across Saskatchewan. In our latest visit, CBC-Radio Canada hit the road to La Ronge. This is the fifth of a multi-part series from that community.
Wildfire season has officially started in Alberta. As the snow starts to melt, people are starting to wonder: Will I have to evacuate this year?
Cassandra Lee is getting ready to pack up her home and family to move more than 3,200 kilometres across the Canada-U.S. border, in search of more "support" and "stability."
To earn the title of master sake sommelier, Yoshi Takaoka says it's not just about knowledge, "we need to demonstrate how to serve the sake perfectly."
Over 115 years ago, more than 150 members of Calgary’s Black community gathered at a venue called Eagle Hall on First Street S.W. for what a local newspaper called “one of the most successful balls of the season.”
Spring is heralded by the return of geese, but to many in Alberta's poultry industry, migration means something different.
Ontario's legislature is set to resume sitting Monday after a 14-week break that ended in a veritable deluge of news, partial proposals and headline-grabbing musings from Premier Doug Ford and his government.