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Ford Canada’s decision Thursday to begin producing its F-series Super Duty pickup trucks at the Oakville Assembly plant beginning in 2026 will result in the creation of 150 new jobs in Windsor.
The company had originally planned to turn Oakville into a full battery electric vehicle plant, but the slowing EV market resulted in those production plans being pushed back to 2027, otherwise leaving the plant idle for three years.
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Ford also confirmed Oakville will remain a production site for the next generation of the Super Duty truck and will add an electric version later this decade.
“The issue of the extension of the BEV plans to 2027 has turned a real negative into something we’re really excited about,” said Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo, who has been part of the team negotiating the Oakville retooling with Ford management.
“Ford has announced 150 jobs for Windsor for the new production, but I’m sure there’ll be more than that once the new program gets up and running. If Oakville goes to two shifts, it’ll be substantially more.
“The new electric version will provide us with even more work when it’s launched too. It’ll be a hybrid, because they won’t go full BEV for something that’s got to pull heavy things, and I’m sure that will be very popular.”
The company will spend $3 billion to begin retooling the Oakville plant this summer securing 1,800 jobs there. Those jobs will be filled by employees currently on layoff from Oakville plant.
D’Agnolo said the Super Duty trucks will use the 7.3- and 6.8-litre engines produced at the Windsor Annex engine plant. That plant is currently running three shifts with 1,009 employees working five or six days a week.
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The Essex Engine plant, which produces the five-litre engine, has two shifts and 729 employees.
“We’ll have to produce another 100,000 engines a year, which is quite a lot,” D’Agnolo said. “This announcement means we’ll be OK for the long term.
“They’ll try to squeeze everything they can out of the Annex. It’ll be a seven-days-a-week, 24-hours-per-day operation.
“Once they figure out what they can get out of the Annex, they’ll look at other options. Those decisions haven’t been made, but we have space at the Essex Engine plant.”
Currently Ford is producing the F-Series Super Duty trucks at its Kentucky and Ohio assembly complexes. Those facilities are running at full capacity.
“We’ve landed the company’s gem,” D’Agnolo said. “It’s their most profitable vehicle.
“The demand for it is so great, but they’ve had to turn down orders. They needed more capacity.”
D’Agnolo said Unifor, Ford and federal and provincial officials have been negotiating the deal since April. He added the new agreement will result in Oakville getting an additional $500 million in investment.
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He credited the high productivity and quality ratings of the workforces in Windsor and Oakville for helping sell Ford on the investment.
“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand,” said Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley in a statement.
“This move benefits our customers and supercharges our Ford Pro commercial business.
“At the same time, we look forward to introducing three-row electric utility vehicles, leveraging our experience in three-row utility vehicles and our learnings as America’s No. 2 electric vehicle brand to deliver fantastic, profitable vehicles.”
D’Agnolo said Ford’s announcement should also be good news for the Windsor area’s many tool and die, mould making and automation industries. Several local firms were significantly impacted by the delay in retooling the Oakville plant, having already committed resources to its electrification.
“They’re going to need a lot of CNCs and other machinery (in both Oakville and Windsor),” D’Agnolo said.
“The company now looks at investing in communities closer to its plants when they do invest. They’re no longer looking as much to China and other places like that.
“They want things closer, so they can get in there and take care of any issues that arise more easily.”
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