Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly laid out three conditions that any new production plan at Stellantis‘s idled Brampton, Ontario plant must meet.
The requirements that would effectively rule out the knock-down kit assembly model Bloomberg reported earlier this week involving the Stellantis-backed Chinese automaker Leapmotor.
Stellantis acquired a roughly 21% stake in the Hangzhou-based brand in 2023 for approximately €1.5 billion and formed a joint venture called Leapmotor International to sell the Chinese automaker’s vehicles outside China.
Speaking in Vancouver on Thursday, Joly did not name Leapmotor in her remarks.
The minister said any resumption of production at the facility must guarantee labour standards at or above previous levels, support the Canadian auto parts supply chain, and ensure that vehicle software complies with North American trade rules under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“We can’t bring cars in a kit to Canada,” Joly said. “Why? Because one of the big parts of our auto industry is actually linked to the fact that we have a big auto parts sector. 200,000 workers. And we have the three biggest companies in the world in auto parts.”
She was referring to Magna International, Linamar, and Martinrea International — the three largest Canadian-headquartered auto parts manufacturers.
Money Back
Joly reiterated that the federal government considers Stellantis‘s decision to end production at Brampton “completely unacceptable” and said Ottawa would recover taxpayer funds unless the company restores manufacturing at the site.
“I’ve been clear with the company and we will get our money back unless they bring back production,” Joly said.
Stellantis received up to $529 million in federal subsidies through the Strategic Innovation Fund as part of a commitment to retool Brampton for electric Jeep Compass production.
Stellantis paused retooling work at the plant in February 2025.
In October, as part of a $13 billion US investment plan, the company confirmed the next-generation Jeep Compass would instead be produced at its Belvidere, Illinois plant — with production there expected to begin in late 2027.
The Brampton facility has been idle since the retooling pause, leaving approximately 3,000 Unifor-represented workers furloughed.
Joly said she would speak with Unifor later on Thursday.
The Three Conditions
The minister’s remarks stop short of naming or formally rejecting the Leapmotor proposal, but the conditions she outlined would preclude the SKD assembly model Bloomberg described — in which parts would be manufactured in China and shipped to Canada for minimal final assembly.
The first condition — labour standards — demands that any new production arrangement provide working conditions equivalent to or better than those in the original agreement.
The second — supply chain participation — requires the use of Canadian parts suppliers, which would preclude assembly from imported Chinese kits.
The third — software security — requires compliance with CUSMA rules, addressing concerns about Chinese-origin software in vehicles operating within the North American market.
The conditions align with the position taken by Unifor, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, all of which condemned the Leapmotor proposal within hours of Bloomberg’s report on Tuesday.
Unifor National President Lana Payne said on Thursday that the proposal “is not manufacturing” and warned it would generate few auto parts jobs.
“It doesn’t use the Canadian supply chain. There are no jobs in auto parts and very few jobs assembling these knock-down kits,” she said.
What Stellantis Said
Stellantis did not confirm or deny the Leapmotor talks.
Spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said in a statement on Wednesday that the company “remains focused on a strong Canadian footprint and is actively evaluating future programs for Brampton, with the objective to ensure that any investment decision is sustainable and a long-term commitment that supports workers and suppliers.”
The Chinese automaker have announced SKD-based production in Spain, Brazil, and Malaysia.
Leapmotor sold nearly 600,000 vehicles in 2025 and is targeting one million deliveries this year.
The Broader Context
The Brampton dispute sits at the intersection of Canada’s two most sensitive trade relationships.
The Carney government agreed in January to reduce tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs from 100% to 6.1%, in exchange for lower Chinese duties on Canadian canola.
Ottawa said at the time that the deal was expected to attract Chinese joint-venture investment within three years.
Joly reaffirmed on Thursday that the 49,000-vehicle quota would proceed.
“We’ll continue with what we’ve done, which is 49,000 electric vehicles coming from China. We already have companies approaching us,” she said. “And we’ll make sure that we abide by our agreement with China.”
However, the minister drew a clear distinction between the broader China EV agreement — which EV has reported will benefit BYD, Chery, and Geely as early entrants — and the specific situation at Brampton, where she insisted on full manufacturing rather than kit assembly.
The government has also cut Stellantis‘s tariff-free import remission quota by 50% and filed a notice of default against the company over the Brampton funding agreement.
A spokesperson for Joly, Isabella Orozco-Madison, said on Wednesday that the dispute resolution process is “ongoing and confidential.”
Stellantis has separately added a third shift at its Windsor assembly plant earlier this year, bringing on 1,700 midnight-shift workers to produce the Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Grand Caravan, and the new Dodge Charger lineup — fulfilling a 2023 commitment to Unifor and partially offsetting the Brampton closure.
Canada’s auto sector supports more than 500,000 workers.
Canadian auto production has fallen nearly 50% since 2016, to approximately 1.2 million vehicles last year.
More than 90% of Canadian-made vehicles are exported to the United States, where they face a 25% tariff on non-US content.
