Canada’s Building Trades Unions welcomes Honda EV Announcement and Initial Discussions on Memorandum of Understanding

Canada’s Building Trades Unions welcomes today’s announcement of a significant investment by Honda and the Government of Canada to secure the future of EV manufacturing in Canada, as the country transitions towards a net-zero economy. Canada’s Building Trades Unions are also pleased to enter into preliminary discussions with Honda to secure a memorandum of understanding which would maximize the number of unionized Canadian skilled trades jobs in the construction of these planned facilities.

“This is an important investment in the net-zero future, and we’re delighted that Honda has chosen Canada for this facility. We’re also gratified that preliminary discussions with Honda are taking place to ensure Canadian unionized skilled trades workers will help build that future,” says Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions “Canadian skilled trades workers have demonstrated time and again that we’re ready and able to build advanced automotive manufacturing facilities for top global automakers. We’re pleased that Honda recognizes our talent.”

Canada’s Building Trades Unions will continue preliminary discussions with Honda, working towards securing a memorandum of understanding to maximize good-paying union jobs for Canadians in the building construction and process equipment installation of Honda facilities. Discussions with other global automakers continue.

“We are also pleased to see the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario continuing to invest in the clean economy. These investments, and the provisions of the investment tax credits in the federal fall economic statement, will help ensure that the transition to net-zero benefits workers with good wages and benefits,” says Strickland.

Canada’s Building Trades Unions has been advocating for strong prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements as part of Government investments for more than three years and is pleased to see significant progress on making these measures law, both for the automotive sector, and others.