Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday that the federal government is launching a formal dispute resolution process under its contracts with Stellantis over the automaker’s decision to move production from its Brampton, Ont., plant to the U.S.
Joly provided the update on the government’s efforts as she faced questions at the House of Commons industry committee on whether the contracts included definitive protections for Canadian autoworkers.
“Before the close of business, the government will take the next step under the contracts to recover Canadian taxpayers’ money,” she told the committee.
“This means that we will start the 30-day period of the formal dispute resolution process in order to bring back production at the Stellantis Brampton facility.”
She added in French: “These actions are not symbolic. They are the direct consequence of a violation of clear commitments…. When a commitment to the Canadian government is not respected on behalf of Canadian workers, there will be consequences.”
Joly said the resolution process gives Stellantis 30 days to present a plan on addressing what she called a breach of contract. She specifically mentioned the 2022 agreement Stellantis signed to access $529 million from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund to retool its plants in Brampton and Windsor, Ont.
The contract was contingent on keeping production at those plants, she said.
The minister added recent contracts between Ottawa and Stellantis — including the nearly $15-billion investment in a new battery plant in Windsor — are “linked” in terms of tying the funding to maintaining Canadian jobs.
“There are job guarantees in all the different contracts,” she said.
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The Windsor battery plant contract, she added, is “linked to the fact that the Brampton facility must be operating and … if the Brampton facility ceases its production, there will be a violation of the contract.”
Joly added that the federal government has not yet paid out the $15 billion under the Windsor contract as it’s tied to battery production and sales that have not yet begun.
Asked by multiple MPs if Ottawa will claw back any money paid to Stellantis if jobs in Brampton and other Canadian plants aren’t saved, Joly said she and the committee “both agree.”
“I know that if we don’t fight that battle and if we don’t win it, the sector is at stake, and so that’s why I’m putting maximum pressure (on Stellantis),” she said.
Conservative MPs pressed Joly on whether the contracts explicitly directed Stellantis to maintain staffing levels at its Canadian production facilities in order to receive federal funding.
About 3,000 workers were employed at the Brampton plant before it was shut down in 2024 to prepare for the new Jeep Compass production line. That model will now be manufactured in Illinois, Stellantis announced last month as part of a $13-billion investment in the U.S.
The minister noted that the government’s launching of a formal resolution process is because the company broke its commitments to Canadian workers.
She said the process is meant to spur Stellantis to provide a plan on bringing a new model to the Brampton plant, which the company has yet to reveal despite repeated promises both publicly and privately.
Stellantis Canada president Jeff Hines told the industry committee last week that the company needs more “trade certainty” before making any commitments, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the upcoming review of the Canada -U.S. Mexico Agreement on free trade.
“We have robust supports in place to help mitigate the effects of this decision and are offering transfer opportunities at other Stellantis facilities wherever possible,” a Stellantis spokesperson told Global News on Monday when asked about the government’s dispute resolution filing.
“We continue to work constructively with government partners and other stakeholders on a plan for Brampton to find viable solutions that build a sustainable, long-term future for automotive manufacturing in Canada.”
Joly noted the contracts and all amendments will soon be produced to the House of Commons government operations and estimates committee, which passed a Conservative motion last month as part of its own study of Stellantis.
However, the approved motion says only the members of that committee will see the full, unredacted contracts, while other MPs and members of the public will see redacted versions approved by the operations committee.
“Stop doing politics,” Joly said at one point under questioning from Conservative MP and committee vice-chair Raquel Dancho, who emphasized the taxpayer cost of the Stellantis contracts and claimed “there is no explicit jobs guarantee.”
Joly accused other Conservatives of playing politics when focusing on the billions of dollars in federal investments, noting the funding has brought jobs to communities and that companies will be held accountable.
“What we need now is national unity,” she said. “No divisions, no political games. Workers’ lives are not pawns in a partisan strategy.”
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