Union, province say they want feds to fund subway car production in Thunder Bay

The City of Toronto is looking to replace its aging subway cars.

The provincial government and the union representing workers at Thunder Bay's Alstom plant said they want those trains made in Thunder Bay, but want the federal government to commit to matching their investment. 

Both the city of Toronto and the provincial government have committed roughly $750 million each towards the trains, but the transportation minister said the project won't go ahead unless the federal government also comes to the table. 

The president of Unifor Local 1075, which represents workers at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay, said they can't afford to wait longer for federal funds.

"If we can't get the feds to commit this money right away, then it's for sure going to be a couple years of downtime and job loss at this facility," said Justin Roberts.

The Alstom plant in Thunder Bay has faced challenges over the past few years, said Roberts. As contracts have ended, few have been secured to replace them. 

In early 2022, the plant faced massive lay-offs. Later that same year, it lost out on a bid for the multi-billion-dollar Ontario Line project. The total contract value was about $9 billion, with more than $2 billion of that dedicated to rail cars. Those cars could have been constructed at Thunder Bay's Alstom plant, had the bid been successful. The contract ended up going to a consortium lead by Hitachi Rail, a Japanese industrial group. 

Roberts said seeing the Ontario Line contract go to a foreign company was "a low blow," but that getting this contract for the subway cars would give the plant workers hope for the future.

"That contract would be a major contract and would be able to sustain a lot of our workers for quite a few years. And right now, that's our biggest fear, is that we don't have enough work to give us an actual future," said Roberts.

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria said this contract to build 55 subway cars could support thousands of jobs and bring over $2 billion in investment to Thunder Bay.  

"We're really urging the federal government alongside our partners with the union to commit to this funding. The City of Toronto is committed, the province is committed," said Sarkaria.

"We need the federal government to step up so we can have these cars made in Ontario and Thunder Bay and that we can have these cars ready for the expansion. It would be a huge missed opportunity."

In a statement, Alstom said it currently has 500 employees in Thunder Bay. "We are obviously closely following developments regarding the renewal of the Toronto subway fleet. We stand ready to continue to support future public transit projects in the province," said the statement.