An aerial view of the idled assembly plant in Brampton, Ont. The factory stopped production in 2023 to retool to make the Jeep Compass, but the work was paused last year after the U.S. placed tariffs on Canadian-made cars.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Automaker Stellantis NV STLA-N says it has signed a preliminary agreement to sell its idled Brampton, Ont., assembly plant to armoured carmaker Roshel.
The Brampton factory stopped production in 2023 to retool to make the Jeep Compass, but the work was paused shortly after the U.S. placed 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian-made cars in 2025. Stellantis last year said the Compass would instead be made in the U.S., leaving the future of the plant and 2,200 laid-off workers up in the air.
Stellantis said on Friday it has reached a memorandum of understanding with Brampton-based Roshel.
“Stellantis believes that Roshel represents a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at Brampton assembly, preserving the site’s strategic role in Canada’s advanced manufacturing sector and helping to avoid a prolonged period of inactivity,” Stellantis said in a statement.
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Roshel makes armoured vehicles for military and law enforcement agencies, as well as making aftermarket modifications to existing commercial trucks.
The Unifor union said it walked away from contract negotiations with Stellantis on Friday after Stellantis told it of the Roshel agreement. The future of the plant was a priority for the union as it seeks a three-year deal for its 9,000 Canadian members.
“The persistence of the company’s proposal to close and sell the Brampton plant has hindered the bargaining process,” Unifor said.
Unifor said the proposed shutdown of the Stellantis plant is a “devastating blow to Canada’s industrial sector” and threatens wages, pensions and other benefits of Unifor members.
Ottawa has been boosting defence spending to reach NATO’s target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product and pushing buy-Canadian policies amid the trade war with the U.S. However, a small-production security vehicle plant cannot replace the jobs and economic heft of an auto assembly plant, Unifor said.
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“There is no economic substitute for automotive assembly in Canada, including the extensive supply chain, regional economic activity, and high-quality, union jobs connected to it,” the union said.
The two sides began bargaining on Sept. 1, with the union seeking a three-year deal by Sept. 11 that matched the gains made in recent negotiations with Ford and General Motors. Those agreements provided raises of 3 per cent in each year of the deal.
The union said it is “actively considering next steps.”
Stellantis declined to provide more details of the sale process, citing the Unifor negotiations.
“For more than 100 years, Stellantis has invested in and grown with Canada, and we remain committed to supporting Canadian jobs, innovation and the long-term competitiveness of the country’s automotive sector,” the company said.
Riyadh Nazerally, a spokesman for Innovation, Science and Economic Development, said the federal government continues to talk with the automaker, Unifor and Ontario about the plant’s future.
“The government will continue to use the tools available to protect workers, secure production, and preserve Brampton’s long-term role in Canada’s manufacturing sector,” he said.
Patrick Brown, mayor of Brampton, said if the sale to Roshel happens, it is “a betrayal of our workers, their families, and every Canadian taxpayer.”
“Stellantis accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in public support on the promise of a future for this plant,” he said. “Instead, it moved production to the United States and left roughly 3,000 workers, along with the suppliers and small businesses that depend on them, waiting for answers.”
Marit Stiles, the leader of Ontario’s New Democratic Party, said Stellantis is failing the very workers who helped build the company.
“At a time when Ontario families are dealing with economic uncertainty thanks to Donald Trump’s unjustifiable tariffs, Stellantis continues to turn its back on the workers who have powered its business in Ontario,” Ms. Stiles said.
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Before Stellantis announced Jeep production would move to Belvidere, Ill., the Brampton plant was being retooled with millions of taxpayers’ dollars. The federal government gave as much as $529-million to Stellantis for work on plants in Brampton and Windsor. The province of Ontario committed more than $500-million but withheld the money when work slowed.
Ottawa last year declared Stellantis in violation of the funding agreement and launched a dispute resolution proceeding. “We will get our money back from Stellantis,” Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in February.
The federal government recently rejected a proposal by Stellantis’s Chinese partner, Leapmotor, to assemble kit cars at the factory, saying the work would create few jobs and contribute little to the local economy.
The Brampton plant was built in 1986 and acquired by Chrysler Corp., as Stellantis was then called, with the purchase of American Motors Corp. The factory, which sprawls over 109 hectares, has produced several models over the years, including the Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger. The plant employed more than 3,000 people when it closed for retooling.
With reports from Jeff Gray