Carney says Stellantis plant sale is only a partial fix

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Stellantis’s planned sale of its idled Brampton, Ont., assembly plant is a “partial solution” for laid-off workers and not the “global solution” the automaker owes them, repeating that the company has betrayed its obligations to Canada.

Carney spoke to reporters in Dublin, where he was attending a European Political Community meeting, CBC News reported. He said he had been informed of “some aspects” of the plan to sell the plant to Canadian armoured vehicle maker Roshel Inc. before it was announced, but did not say how long he had known or what he had been told.

“Being informed or being aware of some aspects is not the same as Stellantis providing a global solution for those workers at the plant, which is their obligation,” Carney said.

He said the sale helps some of the workers who lost their jobs but leaves others out. “A partial solution is a step, it is not a global solution. That is a betrayal,” he said. Carney said the government “will pursue all of this.”

Stellantis announced on Monday that it is selling the plant to Roshel in a deal that could see Stellantis lease some of the property back, as we reported. More than 2,000 workers were laid off in 2023, when the company halted operations to retool the plant for the Jeep Compass. Stellantis says about 1,800 are still on layoff and have continued to receive 70 per cent of their pay and benefits.

Federal records show Ottawa announced up to $529 million in support for Stellantis plants in Brampton and Windsor, Ont., in 2022, and CBC has reported the company received more than $220 million between 2023 and 2025. On Tuesday, Stellantis said it would voluntarily pay the subsidies back, but that confidentiality provisions prevent it from disclosing further details, according to CBC. The agreement barred the company from closing the Brampton plant before 2035 unless circumstances beyond its reasonable control made the facility commercially unviable, CBC reported.

Roshel’s chief executive, Roman Shimonov, has said the company is “not taking over responsibilities or obligations that Stellantis made in the past,” and did not commit to bringing back Stellantis workers, CBC reported.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly was to attend a meeting of stakeholders in Toronto on Thursday to look for a way forward for the laid-off workers. Unifor, which represents them, had demanded a meeting that included Stellantis and the federal and Ontario governments. The outcome of the meeting was not available at the time of publication.

Carney was also asked about a letter Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent him on Tuesday, warning against using the plant to assemble “Chinese-made knock-down kits,” in which a Chinese automaker ships in parts to be put together in Canada. Carney did not address kit assembly directly. He said his government wants “real opportunity” for autoworkers with existing partners, but that Chinese investment in Canada’s auto sector remains a possibility. “The extent to which there’s Chinese investment depends on a variety of factors. It will be one of the discussions with [Chinese] President Xi,” he said.

Carney is on a tour of Europe and Asia and is scheduled to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18 and 19, where he is expected to meet privately with Xi. Chinese involvement in the Brampton plant has been a concern since reports earlier this year that Stellantis had talked with a Chinese automaker, and Unifor’s members voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike mandate last month.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on Carney to fire Joly over the file. Carney has defended her work, saying the problem is “the behaviour of the company versus those workers.”

Source: CBC News, Nov. 10 and 12, 2026.

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