FCA Gets $67 Million from Canada for Windsor Upgrades

The Ontario government has pledged to give Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV as much as C$86 million ($67 million) to support the carmaker’s Windsor plant, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

The investment will be used to help cover costs for recent and future upgrades to the assembly plant, plus research and development efforts at the nearby tech center FCA operates in partnership with the University of Windsor. Some of the funds also will be allocated to employee training.

FCA invested $2.6 billion to develop the all-new Pacifica and retool the Windsor plant. It had sought $700 million in assistance from the Canadian and Ontario governments, but the carmaker dropped those requests in 2014 when the issue was politicized amid the run-up to the country’s prime minister election. 

Carmakers and the Unifor (formerly the Canadian Auto Workers) labor union expect government relations to improve under new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took office last November. Contract negotiations between Unifor and FCA, General Motors and Ford are due to start later this summer.