A $300 million investment has been announced in Windsor that's going to create 1,100 auto parts manufacturing jobs and possibly more down the road.
Minth Group announced Thursday plans to build a 379,415 sq. ft. manufacturing plant on 54 acres of surplus land at the Windsor International Airport.
The investment is phase one of a planned multi-building manufacturing campus on the land at 5000 Cabana Road East at the Eight Concession.
Minth Group Chief Strategy Officer, William Chin, says construction on the facility should be complete by September.
"Mass production is the end of next year. In the meantime, there's a lot of preparation work for auto parts before production," he says. "It will be about a year of preparation work and hiring. We're going to have a team here, we're going to have a company here, and we're going to start operating from September."
Chin says they were worried about tariffs being imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump before Wednesday's announcement.
"USMCA auto parts are exempt from tariffs. There is the problem of the whole car, but that is not, for Minth, we're making auto parts. Whatever we're making here will be 100 per cent USMCA compliant from the beginning. So we're not worried about tariffs going forward; we're not," he says.
Minth works with several auto companies, including Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes.
Chin says he's not concerned there won't be a market for electric vehicles despite certain rollbacks targeting EVs in the United States.
"Even if the growth is slowing down, we are making enough battery cases to expand our plant here. One single plant here can make a battery case for around, per year, 100,000 vehicles. That is very small compared to the number of cars totally being made in North America every year," he says.
The Province of Ontario is providing a loan of up to $40 million through the Invest Ontario Fund to support the project, while the City of Windsor is also supporting the investment through the City's Community Improvement Plan.
Rosati Construction is building the Minth facility, which is going to create around 200 construction jobs.
"Minth Group’s decision to expand its operations in Windsor is a testament to our city's growing leadership in the automotive and automobility sector. This new facility, coupled with significant job creation and investment, will not only bolster our local economy but also solidify Windsor's position as a hub for next-generation vehicle innovation," says Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.