(Reuters) – General Motors Co and union Unifor said Friday they have reached a preliminary deal for the automaker to invest nearly C $ 1 billion ($ 785.42 million) in its CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to build commercial electric to produce vans.
Under the preliminary agreement, which has yet to be ratified by union officials, GM has agreed to large-scale commercial production of EV600, an electric van, at its CAMI plant, Unifor said in a statement.
The Detroit automaker said in a separate statement that work would begin immediately at the plant.
The new deal builds on GM’s recent investment in Canada, which agreed in November to invest C $ 1 billion in its Oshawa plant to expand production of its full-size pickups.
The Canadian government welcomed the deal and said it would reaffirm its support once union members ratified the deal.
“We are waiting for the results of the ratification vote,” Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Unifor, the union representing the hourly workers in Canada, said more details of the deal would be presented to local union members at an online ratification meeting on Jan.17, the results of which will be announced a day later.
($ 1 = 1.2732 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru with additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore