The Trudeau government has announced that two “historic” agreements have been signed with German automakers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz for the use of the country’s natural resources.
According to Ottawa, “these partnerships confirm Canada’s place as a center of excellence for the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries”.
The news comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on a three-day visit to Canada.
“Your country has almost limitless potential to become a superpower in energy and in the production of renewable resources. Germany, for its part, remains ready to become one of its closest partners,” Scholz said at a joint event with Justin Trudeau in Toronto on Tuesday morning.
For the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, “by partnering with Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, Canada is consolidating its leadership role with a world-class innovation ecosystem for clean transport solutions in the automotive sector”.
It was the Minister’s visit to Germany last May which was “the trigger at the origin of these two agreements”.
It should be noted that these are two separate agreements, but the objective of which will be to integrate the Canadian automotive industry into the supply chains of these two mega-enterprises.
The planned agreement with Volkswagen notably provides for the opening of a Canadian office for Volkswagen’s new battery subsidiary, PowerCo.
With investments running into the billions year-to-date, Canada’s automotive industry, whose beating heart is in Ontario.
