Canada is a global leader in the electric vehicle (EV) market. As demand for EVs continues to grow, Governments at all levels want more of these vehicles to be assembled right here in Canada.
In the last four years, more than $46 billion has been invested by auto, EV battery, and battery component manufacturers across the country, with billions more in the pipeline. These global companies want a reliable partner with world-class talent, and this is exactly what we have to offer.
Today, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, welcomed Asahi Kasei Corporation’s investment of approximately $1.6 billion to build an EV battery separator plant in Port Colborne, Ontario.
As medium-to long-term growth is forecasted in the North American EV market, the company expects to make additional multi-billion-dollar investments through multiple phases. Details regarding direct jobs created by this investment are currently being finalized and will be announced at a later date.
Asahi Kasei’s decision to build this new facility in Port Colborne is a testament to Canada and Ontario’s competitive business environment, highly skilled workforce, and dependable supply chains.
The project is expected to benefit from federal support through the Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit. Ontario expects to support this project with both direct and indirect incentives.
The auto sector has long been an engine of economic growth, driving innovation and creating good-paying jobs for Canadians.
As demand for EVs continues to grow, Ontario is well positioned to attract further investment, solidifying our leadership in auto, EV battery, and battery material industries, and creating economic growth and opportunities now and for generations to come.
Quick Facts
- Asahi Kasei Corporation is a multinational company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
- Asahi Kasei’s new plant in Port Colborne will produce Hipore™ battery separators, an essential component of the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs which makes batteries more sustainable and durable. Construction of the facility will be completed by the end of 2024 and the plant is expected to be commercially operational in 2027.
- The Hipore™ battery separator is a microporous polyolefin sheet that prevents the anode and cathode from contacting one another and causing a short circuit, while enabling lithium ions to pass back and forth during battery charging and discharging.
- It is projected that the global sales of EVs will be over three times higher in 2030 than it was in 2023, and Canada is well positioned to be a major player in EV production.
- In federal Bill C-69, the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, the government proposes to implement the Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit, which would be available retroactively as of January 1, 2024. This refundable investment tax credit would be equal to 30 per cent of investments in machinery and equipment, for eligible activities related to the manufacturing or processing of clean technologies, or the extraction and processing of key critical minerals. It would focus on activities needed to achieve a net-zero future, such as manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles and batteries as well as purpose-built and integral upstream components for these activities.
- To seize the opportunities of Canada’s world-leading EV supply chain potential, federal Budget 2024 announced a new 10 per cent EV Supply Chain investment tax credit to attract private investment and create good-paying jobs across the EV supply chain ‒ from EV assembly, to battery production, to cathode active material production. This complements the 30 per cent Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit, which is part of Canada’s $93 billion suite of major economic investment tax credits.
- Earlier this year, BloombergNEF ranked Canada’s attractiveness to build EV battery supply chains first in the world, surpassing China which has held the top spot since the ranking began.
- Canada has attracted investments across our EV supply chain, from mining to manufacturing. With Asahi Kasei’s new project, these investments now total more than $46 billion since 2020.
- Transportation accounts for about a quarter of our emissions in Canada. That is why the Government of Canada has an ambitious target of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, coupled with a suite of support measures from charging infrastructure to purchase incentives.
This investment is a significant statement about the potential growth of the Niagara Region as a whole and its impact will be felt throughout the Region including in Lincoln Ontario.
