Question Period Note: Clean, Green Growth

Clean, Green Growth

• The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of a clean and inclusive economy for Canadians.

• The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) prioritizes projects that support clean growth and the transition to a green economy.

• The Government will continue to invest in small businesses and organizations to create good paying, sustainable jobs and support clean economic growth in southern Ontario.

• FedDev Ontario prioritizes projects that support clean growth and has made many investments that support the transition to the green economy. For example:
o FedDev Ontario provided over $5.4 million for the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) to support Project Arrow, the automotive industry’s first Canadian-made, zero emission concept vehicle. Through this project, the partners worked together to design, engineer and build a connected and autonomous zero-emissions vehicle concept car and its digital twin, which will be used as a virtual platform for testing and validating new technologies before they are integrated into the physical car. The finished vehicle was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2023.
o The Agency also provided Kawartha Ethanol in Havelock a repayable contribution of $2.5 million (towards total project costs of $28 million) to convert ethanol production to higher grades and reach new markets. This investment is supporting equipment purchases and related installation costs, as well as labour and engineering costs related to process implementation and improvement. The project is expected to lead to 16 new jobs in the immediate term, and increase domestic sales by $44 million and increase spending to over 300 domestic suppliers.
o FedDev Ontario recently provided $200,000 for Invest WindsorEssex (IWE) to support the long-term growth of the EV sector in the Windsor-Essex region. With this investment, IWE will help prepare 120 southern Ontario businesses to participate in the growing EV market.
o FedDev Ontario recently provided $300,000 for London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) to strengthen the EV sector in London. As a result, it is expected that up to 120 companies and organizations will be able to integrate into Volkswagen’s global supply chains for battery manufacturing. In addition, up to 25 new partnerships will be developed to attract additional foreign direct investment from European suppliers into the region’s EV sector.
o FedDev Ontario provided $300,000 for the Regional Municipality of Niagara (Niagara Region) to help accelerate the growth of the EV sector in the Niagara region. With this investment, Niagara Region will develop an EV strategy for the region which will focus on building partnerships, facilitating infrastructure development, establishing linkages between industry and post-secondary institutions and enabling Niagara Region representation at industry events.

• On October 27, 2023, FedDev Ontario tabled its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy Report (DSDS), where the Agency increased its target for clean growth investments to a minimum $35 million per year by the fiscal year 2025-2026.

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