Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government has served Stellantis with a notice of default over the Brampton plant’s shutdown and sale to Roshel, and that she is prepared to sue.
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Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government has served automaker Stellantis with a notice of default tied to its Brampton, Ont. assembly plant after the company moved to sell the site to defence contractor Roshel.
Joly said Ottawa is prepared to sue Stellantis to return the “hundreds of millions of dollars” the automaker received under a federal funding agreement, even as Stellantis says it will voluntarily return $24 million in federal support.
Joly issued the notice of default Thursday and said a letter she sent to Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley says the company breached conditions of a 2022 commitment by halting Jeep Compass production at the plant, failing or refusing to identify a replacement vehicle, not maintaining any production at the facility, and closing the plant.
According to Joly’s letter, Stellantis has 30 days to show it will “correct these conditions,” or the minister will declare the company in default.
Longley said in a statement that Stellantis Canada will “voluntarily return” $24 million in federal government support received for the Brampton assembly plant’s original retooling plan.
Joly warned that if Stellantis remains in breach, it could face penalties including termination of the federal funding deal and a requirement to repay all or part of the funding it received, plus interest.
She told reporters in Toronto that “Basically they have 30 days or else, of course, we'll sue them,” adding that her government tried to find a solution for a year but Stellantis chose to proceed with selling Brampton despite opposition.
Joly said she intends to meet with Stellantis global CEO Antonio Filosa and the Ontario government to find a solution.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking during a visit to Ireland where he said he was meeting European leaders, described the Roshel deal as a “partial solution” and said Stellantis was responsible for fulfilling obligations to workers.
Carney said being informed or aware of aspects of the discussions is “not the same as Stellantis providing a global solution for those workers at the plant,” and said, “The betrayal is not fulfilling all the obligations for all of the workers. That's the responsibility of Stellantis.”
Carney linked the obligation to commitments Stellantis made, including in a battery-related agreement with the government.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in Calgary, said that if the federal government knew about the sale in advance, it should have ensured job guarantees and asked whether “there was a job guarantee in exchange for all those tax dollars.”
The defence company’s CEO, Roman Shimonov, said Roshel is willing to hire back some Stellantis employees laid off when the plant halted operations in 2023, and plans to lease about one-quarter of the site’s space back to Stellantis for automotive work.
In 2022, the federal government committed up to $529 million to help Stellantis retool the Brampton and Windsor facilities for electrified vehicles, while the Ontario government committed $513 million.
Joly said retooling began in early 2024, but Stellantis paused its plan to produce the Jeep Compass at the Brampton plant in February 2025, one month after President Donald Trump returned to office and began issuing tariffs on imports from Canada and other countries.
Stellantis later announced it would move Jeep Compass production to Illinois, leaving more than 2,000 workers laid off and idling the Brampton plant indefinitely.
The federal government’s letter also said the transaction between Stellantis and Roshel shows “Stellantis is no longer diligently working in good faith” to resolve the government’s concerns after Stellantis revealed it would not manufacture the Jeep Compass electric vehicle at the Brampton plant.
It added that Joly may supplement the notice of default with further breaches related to the sale, which was announced Monday and is expected to close by the end of this year.
Collective bargaining between Stellantis and Unifor broke down in September after the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel to target a sale of the facility.
Unifor later received a mandate to strike, with 97.3 per cent of members who took part in a vote last month in favour of authorizing a potential labour action, though the union was not yet in a legal strike position.
Unifor national president Lana Payne said Thursday evening that a strike would be the union’s last resort and said “We didn’t hear that would be the case in this meeting today,” adding that there was no resolution and the union would keep pushing.
Unifor Local 1285 president Vito Beato, representing Brampton plant workers, said the membership feels “distressed” and that “Of course I'm angry,” adding that workers feel “betrayed by everyone involved here.”
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