A $7 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario promises to deliver significant change to benefit the area's future.
Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo said it is hiring hundreds of chemists, IT professionals, engineers, and sustainability experts for its St. Thomas facility, the CBC reported. The job search will continue as the company gets closer to its operational debut in 2027.
The 185,000-square-meter (2 million-square-foot) complex will host 3,000 jobs and could create up to 30,000 related jobs. Two hundred employees have been hired for office work in downtown St. Thomas, and that figure will double by the end of the year.
"It's the gift that keeps on giving," St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston said, per CBC News.
The outlet noted Preston expects "generational change" via manufacturing jobs of the future that will stop young workers from leaving the area.
The industrial park includes new roads, electrical towers, and water and sewer lines, as well as a rail yard.
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Batteries made at the plant will be sent to the United States for use in EVs. The factory — Volkswagen's first in North America — will reach 90 gigawatt-hours of production capacity annually.
In addition to the benefits to the industry and city, this development will boost drivers looking to switch to an EV. These automobiles are cheaper to operate and don't produce any tailpipe pollution, which can help slow down a major reason why the planet is overheating.
EV battery technology upgrades — such as 498 miles of range and self-healing units — should also continue to help lower the cost of EVs, which is already in line with gas-powered alternatives.
In Georgia, Hyundai has invested in a $4.3 billion battery plant, and a small facility near Boston is the United States' biggest solid-state workshop.
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"Electrified transportation is the future, and these jobs offer long-term opportunities for Canadians to be a part of an exciting and innovative clean energy industry," PowerCo chief human resources officer Norman Wickboldt said in a statement.
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