Honda announces plans to invest $800m in Canadian manufacturing

Honda Motor Co. has announced plans to invest approximately $800-million at its manufacturing plants in Ontario, Canada to improve their efficiency and position them for production of future models.

The automotive giant announced the investment, which includes financial aid from the Ontario government, last week.

About 4,300 employees assemble Civic compact cars and CR-V compact crossover utilities as well as engines at factories in the region. Honda has been manufacturing in the region since 1986.

The Honda announcement comes just weeks after the province appeared to lose out to Mexico on a Ford engine plant investment. As with other automakers and manufacturers generally, Honda's competitive position in Canada suffered when the Canadian dollar rose to parity with the U.S. dollar and later to $1.10 (U.S.) before tumbling. Honda’s investment will significantly boost the Canadian economy and will position the region for manufacturing growth in the future.

Ontario and Ottawa typically contribute 10 percent each to automotive projects, although in this case, Ottawa is not participating.