The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are welcoming an investment from Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Canada Inc. to build a new manufacturing plant in Loyalist Township.

The facility will manufacture cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor cathode active materials (pCAM), critical components for producing electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Multiple-stages project

The envisioned project, with a total eligible cost envelope of up to $2.761 billion, is planned to be executed in multiple stages. Umicore announced its firm investment decision for the first stage of $2.1 billion, of which $1.8 billion is capital expenditures, for a battery materials production capacity of 35 GWh annually.

Based on the full scope of the envisioned project, the Government of Canada is supporting Umicore’s project through an investment of up to $551.3 million, while the Government of Ontario is investing up to $424.6 million.

Opportunities and potential

The first of its kind in North America, Umicore’s facility will produce CAM and pCAM on a large industrial scale for EV and battery producers in Canada and the United States. In the project’s first stage, the company will create 600 new direct jobs, plus an additional 700 co-op positions for students will be created throughout the project, making Umicore one of the largest private employers in Eastern Ontario. Umicore’s investment will strengthen Canada’s end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain.

The full project has the potential to produce enough battery materials to support the production of over 800,000 EVs per year, utilizing Canadian critical minerals, including nickel, lithium and cobalt, and strengthening Canada’s and Ontario’s domestic EV supply chain and batteries ecosystem.

Thanks to Canada’s abundance of clean energy, the facility will be nearly carbon-neutral from the start of production.