Joly meets with Stellantis, union as PM calls Brampton plant sale ‘partial’ solution

TORONTO — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is set to hold a four-way meeting Thursday with automaker Stellantis, the union representing its more than 9,000 workers in Canada, and representatives of the Ontario government.

The discussions in Toronto come days after Stellantis announced it was selling its Brampton, Ont. assembly plant to Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer Roshel for an undisclosed amount. More than 2,000 workers have been laid off from the plant since it was idled in 2023.

The announcement has been met with backlash from Unifor and the federal government over implications of the move for employees and the automaker’s obligations, but some have also questioned the extent of Ottawa’s involvement leading up to the deal.

Prime Minister Mark Carney initially called the sale of the plant a “betrayal” to laid off Stellantis workers and Canadians as a whole, saying the deal “violates the obligations that Stellantis has under several agreements.’

On Thursday, the prime minister addressed reports that the federal government played an active role in discussions between Stellantis and Roshel before they inked their agreement.

“Being informed or being aware of some aspects is not the same as Stellantis providing a global solution for those workers at the plant, which is their obligation,” Carney told reporters during a visit to Ireland, where he’s meeting with European leaders.

He described the deal with Roshel as a “partial solution” for the plant’s workers.

Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov has said his Brampton-based company is willing to hire back some of the Stellantis employees who were laid off from the plant when it halted operations in 2023. The defence company also plans to lease around one-quarter of the site’s space back to Stellantis for automotive work.

“The betrayal is not fulfilling all the obligations for all of the workers. That’s the responsibility of Stellantis,” Carney said.

“That’s the responsibility they made multiple times, including in the battery deal that they signed with the government. We will pursue all of this. A partial solution is a step. It is not a global solution. That is the betrayal.”

Joly’s office denied reports late Wednesday that she was involved in negotiations that led to the deal, saying the minister never met with Roshel.

It said Joly took part in discussions between Stellantis and Unifor to find a way forward after the company decided to move production previously earmarked for the Brampton plant to the United States. The facility had been slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a process that began early in 2024, before the automaker paused the plan in early 2025. It later announced it was moving production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois, leaving the plant idled indefinitely.

Ottawa believes the move was in violation of Stellantis’ commitments tied to a federal commitment of up to $529 million through the Strategic Response Fund. That commitment, announced in 2022, was meant to help Stellantis retool its Brampton and Windsor facilities to produce electrified vehicles.

Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said the company would repay public funds it has received, but declined to comment on the amount, citing confidentiality provisions.

“We recognize that Canadians expect accountability for public funding and that is why Stellantis has offered to voluntarily return the government support received for Brampton Assembly’s original retooling plan,” Gosselin said in a statement this week.

Collective bargaining negotiations between Stellantis and Unifor broke down in September after the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel to target a sale of the facility.

Unifor national president Lana Payne has called the sale a “worst-case scenario.”

“Stellantis has betrayed our members with an underhanded deal to sell the plant and walk away from its commitments to these workers,” she said Monday.

“Allowing the sale to move forward is a critical failure of our national auto strategy and breaks the federal government’s promise to protect autoworkers from this U.S. trade war.”

— With files from Dylan Robertson in Dublin, Ireland.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press