Will Carney’s latest visit with Trump help end Stellantis shutdown of Brampton auto plant?

For two years, Stellantis has been a company on the move, making giant strategic changes in an industry facing a new technological future.

The rush toward electrification amid competition from new players entering the market forced the auto giant that employs nearly 3,000 people at its Brampton assembly plant to rethink the operation.  

“The story of Stellantis is one of boldness and progress, of always moving forward,” company chairman John Elkann wrote in the 2023 annual report. He struck a similar tone in the same update last year, celebrating the hallmarks of the company: “speed, flexibility and creativity…2025 will be a crucial year…with the power of our iconic brands and with the creativity and dedication of our incredible colleagues, we will grow stronger, shaping a bright and exciting future for our Company.”

Months later, the optimism soured. 

U.S. President Donald Trump launched his tariff war and by February, Stellantis announced the pause of retooling work at its Brampton facility. The overhaul was supposed to be part of the company’s wider effort to transition to building electric vehicles, and would have seen local autoworkers assembling the next-generation, electric Jeep Compass sometime in the next few years.

The company claimed the pause would be temporary— eight weeks at the most. It’s now been eight months. 

With each week that passes without news, Stellantis employees in Brampton have grown increasingly anxious about their own future. 

On Saturday, Unifor Local 1285, along with community supporters, rallied in front of the idled facility, demanding answers. 

“This plant is the lifeblood of this community. It’s not going anywhere,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said.

"Restarting the Brampton assembly plant retool and delivering on their commitments is not a question of if—it is a question of when. Our members here in Brampton were promised a bright future. Since February, that future has been put on hold."

Members of Unifor Local 1285 and community supporters gathered outside the Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant on Saturday, demanding answers from the automaker as the facility remains idle eight months after retooling was paused.

(Unifor Local 1285)

In an interview with The Pointer, Vito Beato, the president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents workers at the plant, criticized the auto conglomerate for keeping its employees in the dark. 

"Our members don't deserve this. They deserve to know when they're going to go back to work, and they deserve to go back to work and build the best cars. We still have no new information. We're 20 months into a retool now, and eight months have passed since the pause date, with still no answers. I mean, this is no fault of our members.”

The tariffs put in place by U.S. President Donald Trump have led to Stellantis pausing work that was supposed to reconfigure its assembly plant in Brampton, where a new generation of electric Jeep Compasses was supposed to roll off the assembly line in the coming years. Instead, the nearly 3,000 workers are now unsure about their future.

(Unifor Local 1285)

Two months after work in Brampton came to a halt, Doug Ostermann, Chief Financial Officer of Stellantis, revealed during a conference call with analysts that the company would need to “recalibrate its North American investments” after seeing revenue drop by 14 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2024.

It was another signal that Stellantis could be considering a departure from Brampton. Prior to announcing what was supposed to be a two-month pause at the Brampton plant, the automaker sold 32 acres of its property located at 2000 Williams Parkway. Stellantis said the decision was part of an effort to streamline operations and optimize its real estate portfolio.

Union members were promised an update in June. It never came. A month later, financial information released by Stellantis estimated it will lose $1.7 billion as a result of tariff costs in 2025. In the first six months of the year, the automaker’s revenue declined 13 percent year-over-year, or $2.67 billion. The numbers led to speculation the company could be forced to shutter some of its North American operations. 

"The company can survive the tariff. Those plants can't. That's why it's important that we get the tariff removed,” Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), told CBC on July 21, addressing the future of the Brampton and Windsor assembly plants.  

Vito Beato, the president of Unifor Local 1285 has been advocating for his members since February but has received no new information from Stellantis.

(Unifor Local 1285)

Kaileen Connelly, a spokesperson for Stellantis in North America, did not respond to The Pointer’s questions about the company’s future plans for Brampton or when workers can expect to be back on the job.

Auto sector workers across Ontario are hoping for some good news after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump Tuesday to lobby for the lifting of tariffs.  

Ahead of the meeting Beato expressed cautious optimism that Canada could be exempted from current tariffs, saying Unifor is hopeful a “zero-tariff” deal will emerge from the discussions.

Payne urged federal leaders to take a tougher stance and protect Canadian workers.

“Our Prime Minister is on his way to Washington this week, and he needs to have one message for President Trump. Canada has leverage, a lot of it, and we are prepared to use it to defend Canadian workers and to defend Canadian jobs. Canada’s auto industry is worth fighting for,” Unifor National President Lana Payne told rally-goers in Brampton on Saturday.

(Unifor Local 1285)

Despite the uncertainty caused by the tariffs, Beato still believes Stellantis is committed to the Brampton electrification plan which Ottawa and Queen’s Park each contributed more than $130 million to.

"I do believe Brampton is going to build cars; I just don't know when," he told The Pointer.

While Ontario Premier Doug Ford vigorously supported the decision to reopen the plant during the rally, saying “Our government will continue to protect the workers, to protect their jobs, to protect the communities, and we will always have their backs.”

He made it clear earlier this year that the $132 million committed by Queen’s Park to support the retooling effort, with an equal investment from the federal government, is conditional on Stellantis following through on its commitment, as outlined in its 2023 collective agreement with Unifor. The provincial and federal government committed a combined $264 million for the retooling effort in 2022, money Stellantis would be on the hook for if it walks away from Brampton.

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