(Reuters) – General Motors Co and the Unifor union said on Friday they had reached an interim agreement for the carmaker to invest nearly C $ 1 billion ($ 785.42 million) in the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to manufactures commercial electric vans.
Under the interim agreement, which has not yet been ratified by union workers, GM has agreed to begin large-scale commercial production of the EV600, an electric utility vehicle, at its CAMI plant, Unifor said in a statement.
The Detroit-based automaker said in a separate statement that work will begin immediately at the plant.
The new business is based on GM’s recent investment in Canada, which in November agreed to invest C $ 1 billion in its Oshawa plant to expand production of its full-size vans.
The Canadian government welcomed the agreement and said it would confirm its support as soon as union members ratified the agreement.
“We are awaiting the results of the ratification vote,” Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Unifor, the union that represents hourly workers in Canada, said more details about the agreement would be presented to local union members at an online ratification meeting scheduled for Jan. 17, the results of which will be published a day later.
($ 1 = $ 1.2732)
Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru with additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Mount by Simon Cameron-Moore