Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said at a Toronto news conference on Thursday that the federal government had sent Stellantis a notice of default and that the company has 30 days to address Ottawa’s concerns or be sued. The notice alleges breaches of the federal funding agreement tied to the idled Brampton, Ontario assembly plant, and follows Stellantis’s announcement on Monday that it had agreed to sell the plant to Roshel, a Canadian armoured vehicle maker, for an undisclosed amount. Stellantis had earlier scrapped plans to build the Jeep Compass at Brampton and shifted that production to Illinois amid US auto tariffs.
Ottawa says the company is on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, while Stellantis Canada chief executive Trevor Longley said on Thursday the company would return 24 million dollars in federal subsidies. Prime Minister Mark Carney called the situation at Brampton unacceptable and a betrayal of its workers. Stellantis said it acknowledges its obligations to the plant’s employees and remains prepared to work with the Unifor union on a settlement for union-represented workers.