As EV battery push continues, Trudeau says new plant will ‘meet this moment’

The federal and Ontario governments announced Tuesday that Canada’s first lithium ion separator plant will be built in Port Colborne, Ont. The facility is part of broader electric vehicle supply chain projects being built in the region.

As first reported by iPolitics, Japanese company Asahi Kasei said on April 25 that it will build a lithium ion separator plant — a first of its kind facility — in Ontario. That was the same day that Honda announced its $15-billion plans for an Ontario electric vehicle supply chain.

“After decades of decline in our manufacturing communities and in an uncertain world where we’re facing a lot of new challenges, we have a plan to meet this moment, a plan to secure the future for our families to breathe life into our main streets and to position Canada as the most reliable supplier in a net zero world,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the announcement.

According to Asahi Kasei, this plant will cost nearly $1.6 billion and produce 700 square metres of a specially coated membrane used in lithium battery manufacturing annually. Asahi Kasei did not mention which municipality the plant would be coming to in its April announcement.

At the time of Honda’s announcement last month, the company said it would retrofit its existing vehicle plant in Alliston, Ont., to build solely electric vehicles, a battery plant nearby, and two battery part facilities elsewhere in Ontario.

The Niagara region plant is part of the two levels of government partnering with Japanese auto-maker Honda to build an entire electric vehicle supply chain in Canada.

Unlike previous electric vehicle deals inked by Ottawa and Ontario, this one does not appear to include production subsidies.

Instead, the federal government is