Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Science and Innovation Francois Philippe Champagne were at Queen's University this morning to announce a major deal with Umicore that will bring the first electric vehicle battery facility of its kind in North America to Loyalist Township. 

Justin Trudeau speaking at the Queen's University event:

Umicore is investing $1.5 billion for the plant. Trudeau says construction of the new facility will create a thousand new jobs, and hundreds of long-term positions once the facility is running. Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich says it will be a 100 per cent clean energy plant transforming minerals into active battery materials. There are three reasons the company choose Loyalist Township to construct the facility.

 “Availability of clean energy, the availability of resources... and availability of critical talent here especially in Loyalist Township-Kingston with all the things I have seen today, the decisive checkbox to be checked that brought us here today," says Miedreich.

The battery facility will supply materials for a million electric vehicles a year. Construction is set to begin in 2023 and is slated for completion in 2025.

Listen to the CFRC interview with Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich below: