German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens is investing $150 million CAD over five years to establish what it calls a Global AI Manufacturing Technologies Research and Development (R&D) Center for Battery Production in Canada.
The new R&D center will be initially located at Siemens Canada’s head office in Oakville, as well as in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, the company said in a statement, with the investment covering labor, equipment, software, and ecosystem support. The facility will focus on developing artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing technologies with an initial emphasis on battery and electric vehicle (EV) production.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing those operations without a clear understanding of the return on investments to them.”
Skaidra Puodžiūnas
CCI
Siemens CEO of factory automation, Rainer Brehm, said the company chose Canada for the facility because of the country’s “highly qualified talent and strong collaborations with world-leading universities,” adding that the facility will position the company as a key player in the global battery sector.
In a statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the investment a “vote of confidence” in the province, which supported the investment with $7.2 million through the Invest Ontario Fund.
The financial support shortly follows an open letter signed by 75 Ontario CEOs calling on Premier Ford to prioritize homegrown innovation as the province takes centre stage in the trade war between Canada and the United States.
The open letter, put forward by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), argues that provincial economic policy has prioritized short-term foreign direct investment (FDI), such as foreign multinationals like Siemens investing in their Canadian operations, over long-term domestic wealth creation. The letter demands that Ford prioritizes procurement resources, and investment vehicles like Invest Ontario, for Ontario-based companies.
CCI Ontario affairs director Skaidra Puodžiūnas said in an email statement to BetaKit that domestic companies provide greater economic benefit, and that “every dollar funnelled to foreign entities is a missed opportunity” to advance Ontario’s prosperity.
“We keep seeing these investments into foreign companies from the Ontario government while the Premier asks us to ‘Buy Ontario,’” Puodžiūnas said in a statement. “A German company doing more manufacturing in Ontario is welcome to expand, but taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing those operations without a clear understanding of the return on investments to them.”
The province claims Siemens’ new center will create 90 jobs and leverage collaborations between battery manufacturers and universities to upskill the province’s auto workforce. The federal government is also providing undisclosed support for Siemens’ investment, but an ISED spokesperson told BetaKit that negotiations between Siemens and the Government of Canada for the project are still ongoing.
“The terms and conditions regarding the nature and level of support to be provided remain to be finalized,” the spokesperson said.
Siemens investment in Canada follows it announcing plans to cut eight percent of jobs in its struggling industrial automation business exactly two weeks ago, representing 5,600 employees, according to Reuters. Siemens also announced plans in early March to invest $285 million USD in its United States manufacturing business, creating two new facilities in California and Texas that it claimed are expected to create 900 jobs. In its statement, Siemens did not note any support from American federal or state governments.
UPDATE (04/01/2025): This story has been updated with commentary from an ISED spokesperson.
Feature image courtesy Siemens.