Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, said on Monday that it was not consulted ahead of the Conservatives’ Auto Plan announced on Sunday.
After meeting with senior executives from GM and Ford in Detroit over the weekend, Pierre Poilievre called for a tariff-free auto pact with the United States while pledging to scrap both the Liberal government’s Chinese EV import quota and its electric vehicle mandate.
Speaking with CTV News, Unifor National Auto Council’s Chair and President of Unifor Local 200 in Windsor John D’Agnolo said that Poilievre’s plan would not be sufficient to cover the whole auto sector.
“What was most frustrating is the fact that you think you [would] go to the experts that have to deal with it every day and sit down with our leader who’s been involved,” he stated.
In what seemed to be an indirect aim at the auto council’s chair, Poilievre shared the testimony of Jeff Gray, President of Unifor Local 222, on X.
“Finally a common sense plan to protect the livelihood of thousands of Ontario auto sector workers. A plan that restores past production levels and secures a long term future,” the quote read.
The opposition leader thanked the union representative for supporting the Conservative plan for a tariff-free US-Canada auto pact.
“By streamlining rules and removing taxes on Canadian-made autos, we can double auto production, protect jobs, and bring the auto industry roaring back,” he added.
On Monday, Poilievre reaffirmed that the decade-long decline in Canada’s auto manufacturing is attributable to successive Liberal governments.
The Conservative representative shared a CBC report in February that stated that 2.3 million cars were assembled in Canada in 2016, having halved to 1.2 million in 2025.
Dollar-for-dollar Plan
The centrepiece is a dollar-for-dollar production-to-sales matching rule: for every car produced in Canada, the same manufacturer would earn the right to sell a car from a USMCA partner duty-free.
Summarising the plan, Poilievre said that for each car manufactured in Canada, the manufacturer can sell to Canada, free of tariff, a car produced in either the US or Mexico.
However, D’Agnolo pointed out that this approach would render several manufacturing plants obsolete, given their usual output.
“That means we don’t need Brampton, and we don’t need Ingersoll because we don’t sell enough of those vehicles to get one for one,” he stated.
He was referring to Stellantis and General Motors, which both cut production in Canada last year as the tariff scenario hit.
Detroit OEMs
Last year, Stellantis cancelled plans to build the next Jeep Compass in Brampton, moving production to the US instead.
Trevor Longley, the company’s President and CEO in Canada, stated last month that the automaker “remains firmly focused on maintaining a strong Canadian footprint and is actively evaluating future production plans for Brampton,” with an announcement expected later in 2026.
The announcement came as Stellantis added a third shift at its Windsor assembly plant, following through on a 2023 commitment to Unifor, and contradicting a general contraction in auto production in Canada from the Detroit automakers.
On the other hand, General Motors confirmed earlier this year it would go ahead with the previously announced layoff of 750 workers at its Oshawa plant, affecting 1,500 more workers across the supply chain.
The company previously halted BrightDrop production at CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, which also affected over 1,000 jobs.
As of mid-2025, about 30% of GM vehicles entering the US market were produced in Mexico and Canada.
Despite recent decisions to relocate production to the US, Detroit automakers still rely on Canada for both manufacturing and sales.
Ford Motor Co., GM and Stellantis sold over 700,000 vehicles in Canada throughout 2025.
Representing workers in Windsor who manufacture engines for the Ford F-150 and Mustang, John D’Agnolo said the plan lacks additional measures to ensure all automakers selling in Canada also produce the vehicle’s components within the country.
“When you reflect on my engines, transmissions, that’s 3,000 jobs in our community he didn’t have in his announcement,” he noted.
China-Canada Deal
Despite the criticism regarding the lack of protection for auto workers, D’Agnolo said he was pleased to see the party take an interest in the China-Canada EV deal.
“We are nervous about China coming into our markets and then increasing year over year,” the representative admitted.
The Unifor leader said they’ve “been looking around the world when China gets into those markets” and end up “seeing a lot of layoffs.”
In January, Ottawa signed a trade deal with Beijing that allows up to 49,000 Chinese-built EVs into Canada annually at a 6.1% tariff — down from the 100% surtax imposed in October 2024.
The Conservatives would scrap that quota and align Canada’s tariffs on Chinese goods with those of the United States.
The auto pact proposes banning Chinese software, aligning with the U.S. to create a harmonized North American standard for cybersecurity and data.
“We will protect the North American supply chains (…) align with our partners on the tariff against China to counter unfair trade and increase our negotiating leverage,” Poilievre stated.
His concerns had also been echoed by Conservative representative Raquel Dancho, who raised national security objections to the deal last week.
Chinese Entry Concerns
BYD, Chery, and Geely are all preparing to enter the Canadian market under the current quota by the end of this year.
Earlier this week, Chery — China’s largest automaker by export volume — issued its first official statement on a potential entry into the Canadian market, confirming it is “closely studying” the country and “evaluating partnerships with local stakeholders.”
Last week, BYD‘s Executive VP told Bloomberg the company is considering building a plant in Canada.
However, the company insisted on fully owning and operating the facility itself, rather than entering a joint venture with local partners.
Ottawa has pushed Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to use the deal as leverage for Chinese EV joint ventures that would supply global markets from Canadian plants.
Unifor has previously argued that without domestic partnership requirements, Chinese plants would offer limited benefits to Canadian workers.
In January, Unifor National President Lana Payne said “this is a self-inflicted wound to an already injured Canadian auto industry.”
Consumer Side
Additionally, according to final regulations published in the Canada Gazette, Canada will not require any Chinese-built EVs entering the country over the next 12 months to meet the C$35,000 ($25,600) affordability threshold pledged by Carney when the deal was struck.
The provision, framed by the Government as a measure to increase the availability of affordable EVs, will not take effect until the 2027 quota year.
China-built vehicles are ineligible for Canada’s relaunched Electric Vehicle Affordability Program, which offers rebates of up to C$5,000 only for vehicles produced domestically or in free-trade partner countries.
This scenario could also hurt consumers, as established international automakers — typically importing from the US or Europe — are now considering sourcing vehicles from China instead.
If included in the quota, these vehicles could enter Canada at a 6.1% tariff, compared with the 25% counter-tariff applied to US-made vehicles.
It applies to brands like Tesla — which currently imports its Model Y from Europe and also manufactures the Model 3 in China — and Volvo, which halted imports of its US-made EX90 last year but could now ship it from Chengdu or Daqing instead.
