General Motors today informed its St. Catharines, Ontario workforce that it plans to invest at the plant to manufacture new Ultium electric drive units for GM’s growing electric vehicle lineup. This investment plan would be expected to support around 500 jobs at the St. Catharines facility and enable the production of more than 400,000 EV drive units a year – subject to completing support agreements with the Canadian Federal and Ontario governments. With hundreds of good-paying jobs, it’s unlikely such supporting agreements won’t be forthcoming, in AutoInformed’s view. We would be more troubled by the fate of the Toronto Maple Leafs as the NHL trade deadline and the Stanley Cup approaches.

The drive units built at St. Catharines will be used in vehicles built on GM’s flexible Ultium EV architecture. During 2023 planned are the electric Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Equinox EV, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, and GMC HUMMER SUV EV. All will debut in the North American market.