Feds, Ontario offer cash in $545M Toyota upgrade

Toyota's two Ontario plants are getting a $545-million expansion and overhaul, backed by almost $71 million from each of the governments of Canada and Ontario.

Gary Goodyear, the federal minister of state for science and technology, and John Milloy, the Ontario minister of training, colleges and universities, announced Project Green Light at the Toyota plant in Cambridge on Tuesday morning. 

Ontario will provide a $70.8-million grant and the federal government will match that amount in the form of a repayable loan to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. for plant upgrades in Cambridge and Woodstock.

It's not clear, however, on what terms the federal money will be repaid, or when.

The plants in Cambridge and nearby Woodstock employ about 6,500 people. The province says Ontario's investment will help "secure" those jobs. At current employment levels, that represents about $11,000 from each level of government per job, but officials said Tuesday a few hundred more jobs could be created as a result of the investment.

"This investment will help Toyota maintain its competitive edge in the global market," Milloy said.

Most of the upgrades are aimed at making the plants more productive and environmentally friendly.

"The strong support that we have received from both the federal and provincial governments is very important because it allows us to give these initiatives priority and helps to secure our production footprint in Canada," Toyota Canada chair Ray Tanguay said.

The occasion marked  the first time the federal government has opened its wallet for the automotive industry since spending more than $12 billion to bail out Chrysler and GM during the depths of the recession in 2008 and 2009.

More than 400,000 jobs across the province are tied to the automotive industry.