Honda invests $857M in Ontario

[projekktor id=’16130′]

The Ontario government and Honda Canada have announced a big investment in the Alliston manufacturing plant.

Honda will invest about $857 million over 3 years and the province will provide 10 per cent of the company’s investment. The company says the money will go towards leading-edge technologies for vehicle assembly and engine manufacturing.

It will also be used for worker training, research and partnerships with Ontario universities and colleges. Around 4,300 workers build the Honda Civic, CRV and Crossover as well as different engines at the factories.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says the Honda plant will be the most innovative in North America. “This investment by Honda is a vote of confidence in Ontario’s highly-skilled workers.”

“It’s a vote of confidence in Ontario’s capacity for innovation and leadership, and it’s a vote of confidence in Ontario’s auto sector which remains one of the strongest and most diverse in the world. To help make the Alliston plant one of North America’s most innovative, our government is providing $85.7 million to make that happen.”

Wynne says the investment is a welcome boost for Ontario’s economy after other auto makers have bypassed the province to expand in Mexico and the southern U.S.

Honda says the money announced today brings the company’s total investment in its Canadian operations to almost $4 billion since 1986, when the company became the first Japanese automaker to set up shop in Canada.