Guelph-based auto parts manufacturer Linamar has received a total of $99 million dollar in provincial and federal funding for use in technology, innovation and research.
The money will be spread out over six years and will eventually lead to another 1,500 jobs, most of them in Guelph, said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz.
It will also help retain another 8,000 jobs.
The province is contributing $50 million through its Jobs and Prosperity Fund and the federal government $49 million through an innovation and technology fund announced in last year’s budget.
The provincial money is conditional and part of a project that will see Linamar spend a minimum of $500 million. The money will be spread out over six years, with job commitments until at least 2029.
Linamar will soon break ground on an innovation centre at its Woodlawn Road location that will focus on developing that technology.
“There’s investment that we’re making within our facilities that are starting up very soon and there’s also some jobs associated with the innovation centre. Longer term, the work that they do there will certainly lead to more opportunities and jobs as well,” Hasenfratz said in an interview.
Linamar employs 8,000 people at its 23 Canadian plants, 22 of those in Guelph. Globally it has 59 manufacturing facilities, employing almost 25,000 people.
“It’s about both product development and investment in new products, materials and processes associated with our internal combustion, hybrid and both battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles," Hasenfratz said.
“It’s also about process innovation on the shop floor, utilizing some of the artificial intelligence, machine learning concepts.”
Hasenfratz said that while battery and electric vehicles account for only a fraction of the market right now, last year 20 per cent of the new business Linamar garnered was for battery electric vehicles.
The announcement came Monday morning at the Linamar's Frank Hasenfratz Centre For Excellence in Manufacturing on Woodlawn Road. Joining Hasenfratz were federal MInister of Innovation, Science and Technology Navdeep Bains, provincial Minister of Economic Development Brad Duguid, Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield and MPP Liz Sandals.
Duguid called Linamar “one of Canada’s great companies.”
“Partnerships like this one support our long-term competitiveness and help Ontario continue to lead the way in transformative vehicle technologies,” Duguid said.
“It’s so critical to this region and our entire economy,” Bains said of the auto sector. “The industry represents 10 per cent of our manufacturing GDP, that’s how important the automotive industry is, and it directly employs 127,000 Canadians and another 400,000 indirect jobs.
“Today we’re talking about the kind of research and development that is talking and focusing on innovation …. We want Canada to take its place at the forefront of automotive innovation,” Bains said.
Sandals said that Linamar is “absolutely critical” to the economy of Guelph and keeping up with innovation and technology is essential.
