Nov 13, 2026
More than 2,200 autoworkers have been on layoff since Stellantis, the multinational automaker behind Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler, idled its assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, in December 2023.
Now Ottawa has given the company 30 days to fix what it calls breaches of a 2022 funding agreement, or risk having to repay some or all of the public money it received, plus interest.
What did Ottawa tell Stellantis?
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly laid out the alleged violations in a Nov. 12 letter to Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley: halting Jeep Compass production in Brampton, failing to identify a replacement vehicle and ultimately closing the plant. If the company doesn’t show it will correct them, Joly will formally declare it in default, which could also lead Ottawa to terminate the funding agreement.
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This isn’t the first time Ottawa has escalated. In October 2025, Joly launched a dispute resolution process with Stellantis, and in December 2025 she told a Commons committee the government was serving the automaker with a notice of default after it moved Compass production to the U.S. In her latest letter, Joly wrote that the Roshel sale shows Stellantis is no longer working in good faith to resolve the dispute.
Ottawa had already signalled it was prepared to go to court. At a Nov. 10 press conference in Montreal alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, Joly said the government would “use the full force of the law to make sure we protect jobs,” while also seeking justice for the laid-off workers.
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How much public money is at stake?
In 2022, Ottawa committed up to $529 million and Ontario committed $513 million to help retool the Brampton and Windsor, Ont., plants for electric vehicle production. Retooling in Brampton began in early 2024, but Stellantis paused its plan to build the Jeep Compass there in February 2025 before movinf production to Illinois.
Stellantis has offered to repay $24 million, the funding it received for Brampton’s retooling, a company spokesperson confirmed. That’s a fraction of the at least $222 million federal records show Ottawa has paid the automaker to retool both plants. The government hasn’t said whether it accepts the $24 million figure.
Will the Roshel sale bring the jobs back?
On Nov. 9, Stellantis announced that it’s selling the idled plant to Brampton-based armoured vehicle maker Roshel. The deal is expected to close by year-end. Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov has said the company will give hiring priority to Brampton residents and is willing to bring back some of the laid-off Stellantis workers, but it won’t take responsibility for reinstating all of them.
Unifor, the union representing more than 9,000 Stellantis workers in Canada, has rejected the argument that “some jobs are better than no jobs.” Vito Beato, president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents Brampton workers, called that claim “simply not true.”
What are Carney and Poilievre saying about the public money?
Both leaders have called the sale a betrayal, but they disagree on who’s to blame: Carney points to Stellantis, while Poilievre faults the Liberal government.
During a Nov. 10 press conference in Montreal, Carney said the sale amounts to a betrayal of thousands of employees and pledged to fully enforce Canada’s rights to protect those workers and Canadian funds. Two days later, speaking to reporters in Dublin, Carney addressed CTV News reporting that Ottawa had been actively involved in the Stellantis-Roshel talks. A senior government official told CTV News that Stellantis presented several proposals, none of which Ottawa endorsed. Carney argued that being informed of parts of the deal isn’t the same as Stellantis meeting its obligation to all the workers. “A partial solution is a step. It is not a global solution,” he said.
Speaking outside the Brampton plant on Nov. 10, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the sale “yet another Liberal betrayal of Canada’s working people.” He is urging the government to sue Stellantis to recover tax dollars, and he has called on Carney to fire Joly. Two days later in Calgary, Poilievre demanded that the government disclose how much money Stellantis received, how much will be repaid and whether the funding came with job guarantees. If Ottawa knew about the sale in advance, he said, it should have secured job guarantees as part of the deal.
What happens next for Stellantis and its Brampton workers
Stellantis has until around Dec. 12 to respond to Ottawa’s notice. Meanwhile, the Roshel sale is expected to close by the end of 2026. A Nov. 12 meeting between Joly, Stellantis, Unifor and the Ontario government didn’t resolve the dispute: Unifor National President Lana Payne said Stellantis is still moving ahead with the sale, and the union is now seeking a meeting with the company’s CEO Antonio Filosa.
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Writer and editor based in Toronto with experience in personal finance, insurance, arts and culture and branded content.
