The office of Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she never met with Roshel, the company buying Stellantis's Brampton assembly plant in Ontario, before the sale agreement was signed. The statement disputes reports that the minister was directly involved in negotiating the deal, which has become a flashpoint over federal commitments to the plant and its former workforce.
According to the minister's office, Ms. Joly's role has been to help resolve the conflict between Stellantis and Unifor, the union representing the workers. The office said the federal government would not approve a transaction that lacked union approval, and that Stellantis had been told it would face federal remedies if the sale breached its obligations under the Strategic Response Fund, or SRF. The office did not provide details of any such remedies.
The dispute traces back to October 2025, when Stellantis announced it would move production earmarked for Brampton to the United States. The move allegedly breaches commitments the company made in exchange for federal funding of up to $529 million under the SRF. Stellantis has since sold the Brampton plant and its equipment to Roshel, though the purchase price has not been disclosed. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to government and regulatory conditions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the sale unacceptable, describing it as a betrayal of workers and of the company's obligations. The government has said Stellantis is in default of those obligations. Reporting by CTV, citing unnamed sources, says Ottawa was intensively involved in the talks, while CBC has reported that the federal government had been aware of a possible sale for months. The minister's office has pushed back on the characterization of Ms. Joly's involvement, even as the broader federal role in the negotiations remains a subject of reporting.
The plant halted production in 2023, and retooling for Jeep vehicles was paused in early 2025 before the output was moved to Illinois. Roshel's chief executive has said he may rehire some of the roughly 2,000 workers laid off when the plant stopped operating. Ms. Joly is scheduled to meet with Stellantis, Unifor and Ontario Economic Development Minister Stephen Fedeli in Toronto on Thursday, in what is expected to be a further attempt to resolve the dispute over the plant's future and its workers.
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