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Ontario Premier Doug Ford says “it’s unacceptable” that Stellantis is reportedly in talks with a Chinese automobile manufacturer about the possibility of building Chinese electric vehicles in Canada at its idled Brampton assembly plant.
A report by Bloomberg News says the alleged talks are with Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology, a Chinese automobile manufacturer with headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
According to Reuters, Stellantis bought a 21 per cent stake in Leapmotor for $1.6 billion in 2023. The two companies also created Leapmotor International, a joint venture in which Stellantis holds a 51 per cent stake.
Lana Payne, president of Unifor, the union that represents thousands of laid-off Stellantis workers, confirmed Thursday that Stellantis is exploring multiple options for Brampton assembly plant, including production with Leapmotor.
In an interview with CBC News in Dallas, Texas, Ford said such a deal would undermine Ontario autoworkers.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s everything against what the federal government told the auto workers here in Ontario,” Ford said.
“We can’t have cheap Chinese parts and kits coming over to be assembled,” he said. “We’re dead against this.”
According to the Bloomberg report, the talks are preliminary.
Production at the Brampton plant, which had about 3,000 employees, ended in late December 2023 and retooling began in January 2024 to prepare for production of the Jeep Compass.
After U.S. President Donald Trump started rolling out tariffs early last year, the company said it was “temporarily pausing work” at the plant. In October 2025, Stellantis said it was moving the Jeep model’s production out of Ontario to a plant in Illinois.
Stellantis has “nothing to announce” at this time, said company spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin in an emailed statement.
She said the company is looking to invest in a future program at the Brampton plant that is sustainable and will be a long-term commitment to support workers and suppliers.
“Stellantis remains focused on a strong Canadian footprint,” Gosselin said. “We are in active discussions with government officials and key stakeholders to ensure that the conditions for success are in place to support continued investment in Canada.”
‘Knock-down kit plants’ could displace workers: union
Payne said Unifor expects the carmaker to “live up to the commitment” to build and support jobs at the Brampton plant.
There are “serious concerns” regarding possible partnerships with Chinese auto manufacturers to use imported parts for kit assembly overseas, she said.
“These knock-down kit plants would employ a small fraction of workers while displacing tens of thousands of direct assembly and auto parts jobs,” said Payne.
She called on the Canadian government to create an auto policy that will support companies that build and manufacture within the country.
The funding agreement between the federal government and Stellantis has been the subject of much scrutiny since the automaker announced it was moving Jeep Compass assembly from Brampton, Ont., to the U.S. CBC Windsor obtained a copy through an access to information request. Emma Loop reports.
Ford said it would only be acceptable if Chinese companies manufactured cars in Ontario by coming to the province to open a plant and buying Ontario-made auto parts and having them assembled by Ontario autoworkers.
“We want to make sure that Stellantis understands that they need to build Ontario-made cars with Ontario workers with Ontario parts.”
Ford said he is in Texas in an effort to expand provincial trade. He is there with Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.
Canada made $529M deal with Stellantis in 2022
Last month, CBC News obtained a copy of a $529-million deal made in 2022 between the Canadian government and Stellantis, which barred the carmaker from closing the Brampton plant before 2035.
The contract, however, made some exceptions, including circumstances beyond the automaker’s “reasonable control” that make the facility “commercially unviable.”
A dispute resolution process was launched in November last year after the federal government found it “unacceptable” that Stellantis moved the Jeep Compass production to Belvidere, Illinois, said Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said to CBC News Wednesday.
That confidential process is still ongoing and the government is “actively engaging” with Stellantis, Unifor and Ontario to “secure production, protect jobs and ensure long-term investment,” she said.
“Any new auto investments will prioritize Canada’s supply chain, including Canadian labour and parts suppliers,” said Joly.
In December, Joly said the government would serve Stellantis with a notice of default under the funding contracts related to projects in both Windsor and Brampton, Ont.
The global carmaker insisted at the time that it had not shuttered the Brampton plant, and that it’s working with the government and other partners “to find viable solutions” for the facility.
CBC News reached out to the federal Ministry of Industry and Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology for comment on Thursday.
The federal government made a deal earlier this year to allow 49,000 Chinese EVs into the market at a tariff rate of 6.1 per cent — the measure replaced a 100 per cent tariff that had been introduced by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2024.
