Flavio Volpe, C.M.

The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade to discuss the 2026 CUSMA review. Our key message was that Canada must do everything possible to protect our preferential access to the US market and support the integrated automotive supply chain. This can be achieved by ensuring our trade and regulatory policies in the automotive industry are aligned with the US. Canada cannot be out of step with its largest trading partner and strongest ally on China as we approach 2026. There is simply too much at stake for the automotive industry and broader Canadian economy if Washington perceives Canada as misaligned. Read coverage of our remarks here: https://lnkd.in/dYjb7exP

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Today the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, Canadian Automobile Dealers Association - CADA, and the Global Automakers of Canada launched the Countdown to 2035. The Countdown illustrates how little time we have to prepare for an all-electric vehicle fleet. If there is any hope of meeting the mandated zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales targets established by the federal government, urgent action is required now to put Canada on the path to widespread ZEV adoption. This depends on an unprecedented national effort to build charging infrastructure, expand the electricity grid, increase clean electricity production and help more Canadians switch to electric is urgently required. Automakers have announced over $40 billion in job-creating investment in Canada to build a ZEV supply chain. We are calling on the federal government to ensure that its environmental policies are working in conjunction with our industrial policy. #auto #EV #ZEV #cdnecon #cdnpoli

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CFAX interview with Victoria Electric Vehicle Association regarding BC EV Incentive roll backs, Chinese EV tariffs, and the general state of Chinese EVs. The answer to Chinese EVs is not tariffs (trying to protect the legacy car makers against the future they tried to ignore for fifteen years) but to have Chinese companies building in North America. That is how the Japanese car makers came here and it has worked well for all involved. #StopBurningStuff #EVs Jim Henshaw David Grove James Locke Joanna Kyriazis Joanna Caesar https://lnkd.in/gCisP2FZ

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BREAKING this morning: Here's what we know about Honda's EV investment in Ontario:

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The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association applauds measures in the 2024 federal budget aimed at supporting the transformation to electrification in the automotive industry. However, we remain concerned that the government lacks a clear plan to achieve its mandated electric vehicle (EV) sales targets. Auto manufacturers have announced over $30 billion in job-creating EV battery manufacturing and vehicle assembly investment in Canada since 2020. With record numbers of EVs coming to market, government must focus its efforts on supporting Canadians in the switch to electric. Read our statement: https://lnkd.in/ds2k7JSq #Budget2024 #cdnpoli #auto #manufacturing #EV #ZEV

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THAT'S A WRAP! Thoughts on Hannover Messe 2024 It was a privilege for Accelerate-Accélérer to help organize Canada’s EV supply chain delegation at this year’s HANNOVER MESSE, the world’s largest and most important technology and manufacturing trade show. Despite the immense scale of the event and the tens of thousands of participants from all over the world, it felt like we were part of a small city, where progress and ingenuity were on display at every turn. Here are some of my key takeaways: 💶Canada is open for business The focus and determination of the companies in our group to build or expand global relationships was something to behold. Scaling Canadian vehicle component, battery and materials firms sought and secured meetings with large global players and worked 15-hour days to make sure they told their stories to the right people. 💡Canadian problem solving was on full display In each of the twenty or so exhibition halls (all of which were the size of a major airport terminal), there were robotic arms or some other impressive tech. It was heartening to see so many smart people from around the world thinking through how to address big challenges. From #EV tech to electronics to #AI, our country was well represented and anyone walking through the Messe would have been impressed by the entrepreneurialism and ambition on display from Canada. 📲AI can be practical Media coverage of AI can make it seem like the only bankable applications for the tech are limited to chatbots or camera phone images. Ask the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) though and they’ll show you in real time how their proprietary AI detects and corrects possible imbalances to ensure their rare earth processing remains consistent and pure. Or ask ProEV, a division of Electrical Components International how the technology can be applied to quality control in manufacturing through their KonnectAI platform. ⤴️We’re going to need a bigger hall! Because of the hard work and collaboration between Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and NGen Canada, Canada had a large and very impressive showing this year. Next year, Canada’s going to blow it out of the water as the PARTNER COUNTRY for Hannover Messe 2025. This will be an enormous opportunity for innovative Canadian companies across a number of sectors to showcase their solutions to global investors and purchasers and we’re looking forward to once again leaning in to help tell the Canadian EV industry story. Charles Vincent Jayson Myers Christina Bilyk Anthony (Tony) Hahn, MA, mMBA Arthur Kong, M.P.A., P.Eng. Nano One Materials Corp. TSX: NANO E3 Lithium Calogy Solutions Exro Technologies Inc. University of Windsor William El Khoury  

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Watch my recent conversation with Amanda Lang about US tariffs on Chinese EVs and what it means for Canada. Through aligned regulations and an integrated economy, underpinned by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), auto manufacturers assemble and sell into the larger North American market accounting for annual sales of nearly 20 million vehicles. The success of the industry depends on a clearer connection between Canada’s climate change goals and the economic realities of an integrated North American industry. That includes ensuring our trade and regulatory policies in the automotive industry are aligned with the US. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eEZeSkBw

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"The problem is not the level of B.C.’s debt, but how quickly it is rising. S&P calls that trend “a turning point” for the province’s finances, noting that the “size and persistence of material after-capital deficits differentiate B.C. from its peers.” The words are measured, but the warning is clear: B.C.’s finances are headed in the wrong direction. The fiscal plan is likely understating the problem. Health spending, for instance, is to increase by 14.9 per cent in the current year, but that growth suddenly decelerates to 2.6 per cent and 1.6 per cent in the following two years. That would result in reduced health care funding, once adjusted for population growth and inflation. The same pattern shows up for the education and social services budgets. Is the NDP contemplating a period of relative austerity? Or are those numbers understated to keep the deficit and debt picture from looking even more gloomy?" https://lnkd.in/gJYWaYfc

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I was delighted to attend today's announcement by Honda of the first comprehensive EV supply chain in Canada with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford. In the same week that Stats Canada data showed that Canada’s productivity dropped to 7% below its long-term trend we have this landmark announcement that Honda will invest $15-billion here in Ontario. This is not only the largest investment in Canada’s automotive industry, but it is also Honda’s largest ever investment. With brand new production and the supply chain around it, this is exactly what’s needed to attack our productivity gap. With this announcement Ontario has now secured its third battery plant and five EV platforms, along with a growing list of battery components manufacturers. The resurgence of Ontario manufacturing is here. See Toronto Region Board of Trade's full statement below. François-Philippe Champagne, Victor Fedeli, Jean Marc Leclerc, Invest Ontario, Automotive Parts Manufacturers'​ Association (APMA), Flavio Volpe, C.M.

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A few of my favourite quotes from this article: 1. "They purchase their vehicle for the one weekend of the year when 'I tow my boat up to the lake and I want to make sure I can do that,'" he said, noting "it is ironic when they make that purchase and then complain about high gas prices." 2. "One of the reasons we got here is government regulation. In response to the 1970s oil crisis, the U.S. government introduced a number of measures ostensibly intended to reduce gasoline usage. One of them was the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. But instead of increasing the fuel economy of every model equally, it required automakers to increase the average fuel economy across their fleets. This created a two-tier system, where smaller cars balanced out the relatively poor fuel economy of larger ones." 3. "As more and bigger vehicles surround us on the road, it's led to what many observers describe as an "arms race" where drivers feel they need a bigger and bigger vehicle to feel safe. Long said this "perceived safety" is really at odds with "the reality that SUVs are much more likely to be involved in fatal traffic accidents than cars." North America needs to give its head a shake. If we truly care about our finances, health, safety, and environmental future, then we need to start voting for politicians ready to argue for safer and smaller streets. Automakers are incentivized for profit, and with so few options consumers take what they can get. Political leaders need to push back. https://lnkd.in/gAnNWBTW

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Here is a Canadian productivity problem. C-27 will have been “at committee” for a full calendar year this week. It was tabled in June 2022. This is the bill that will upgrade twenty four year old legislation on privacy of information (PIPEDA) and start to create a framework around AI and algorithm transparency. We need it in order to avoid falling further behind the US and EU. Come on Parliament, we need to increase productivity of the 338 MPs and 105 Senators before the election….that order paper is full of slow moving bills… #productivity #politics

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Here's what you might have missed in the federal and provincial budgets released in the last few weeks.

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There are five major auto manufacturers in Ontario, with hundreds of additional parts suppliers. With the latest announcement of a Honda EV battery plant coming to Ontario, the industrial strategy around creating an EV battery and car assembly hub is taking shape. These are the sustainable jobs of the future. I argued on CTV News Power Play that with billions of public dollars being invested there must be strings attached. We need good, fairly paid union jobs. And we need companies to make explicit commitments to respect the rights of their workers to organize. Only when public investments come with robust conditions will we build the kinds of thriving communities we want to live in.

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Canadian founders, leaders, and tech employees who dedicate their money, time, and passion to their companies' long-term success and our country's prosperity deserve to be heard directly by their government. Canada's GDP per capita and productivity have stagnated; we are now 25% poorer than Americans, which amounts to $16,000 less per person per year. Strong social services like universal healthcare, education, and social housing can only be sustained with a strong economy. If the country's prosperity grew at a rate comparable to the U.S., it is estimated that there would be an additional $500 billion in the country's GDP each year. This growth would generate significantly more tax revenue than the amount projected from the capital gains proposal announced in the Federal Budget. It’s evident that public discussion and discourse about the recent federal budget are not slowing, and the recurring theme of prosperity is permeating conversations I am having with people across this country. The issue with these new proposals for the capital gains changes was not taken to industry for consultation, and we feel strongly that these discussions should take place. When Canada's leaders propose and implement poor public policy, it affects us all. Over the next few weeks, Council of Canadian Innovators | Conseil canadien des innovateurs will host a series of consultation sessions to create a forum for leaders to discuss the impacts of this proposed policy and engage with one another. We’ll talk more about the long-term effects on founders, investors, and highly skilled tech employees. We will continue to press for pro-growth policies to create economic opportunities for Canadians. These proposals are intertwined with our national goals to help Canadians maintain services like universal healthcare, education, and housing. The first of these events, “Tech Sector Pulse Check,” will be held on Friday, May 3 at 1 pm EST. REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/gHbCNXwK In the meantime - our letter has hit nearly 2000 signatories; add your name here: https://lnkd.in/g8PZ2Eug cc'ing: Communitech, MaRS Discovery District, Invest Ottawa

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“Canada is examining whether it needs to raise tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles after the White House announced major new levies on them, Trade Minister Mary Ng said. ‘We are looking at this very carefully and we have an open dialogue with our American partners,’ Ng said in a phone interview from Peru, where she’s attending meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The Biden administration announced sweeping new tariffs against China this week, targeting semiconductors, solar cells and other products. The new U.S. tariff on Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles will take effect this year, with a final tariff rate of 102.5%, up from 27.5%.” “Canada imposes a small tariff of about 6% on Chinese vehicles. Asked whether it may need to align its own tariffs with the U.S., Ng said again the government is speaking with U.S. officials about the policy, ‘and we are absolutely looking at this.’ Ng stressed that Canada’s main focus is on producing electric vehicles domestically. She pointed to agreements that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has signed with automakers such as Honda Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG to make electric vehicles, batteries or components in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.” “The country’s auto sector is highly integrated with U.S. vehicle makers; parts and finished cars and trucks flow easily across the border between Ontario and key U.S. manufacturing states such as Michigan and Ohio. Chinese factories have a very small share of Canada’s auto market, but the country has recently witnessed a surge of imports of Chinese-made Tesla Inc. models manufactured in Shanghai. The number of cars arriving from China at the port of Vancouver rose more than fivefold last year, to about 44,400, after Elon Musk’s automaker started shipping Model Y vehicles from there.”

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📢❔Are there further steps that the federal or provincial governments can take to align Canadian ZEV purchases with the content of origin within vehicles and batteries, including through government procurement programs?   Go to Accelerate’s National Consultation to answer 📝 ▶ https://lnkd.in/eaxXd2WQ ◀

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