It’s great to be here with ministers Joly and Dabrusin.

I want to thank the team here at Martinrea. This is an extraordinary Canadian success story. We are here, where Canada strong is forged every day. Where nearly 20,000 skilled workers come together to build the engine blocks, transmission housings, and control arms that help drive our auto industry and our economy.

This is a pivotal moment for both our industry and our economy.

U.S. tariffs have upended a trade bargain that has existed as long as I’ve lived. It’s put our workers, our businesses, and our country under a cloud of uncertainty. At the same time, the global auto sector is being radically transformed by rapid shifts toward lower emissions, greater connectivity, and even more advanced manufacturing.

The decisions Canada makes now will shape careers, communities, and our economy for decades to come.

We will not miss this opportunity.

A confident Canada is making the strategic decisions and generational investments today to build the affordable, enjoyable, and low-emission automobiles of the future.

The auto industry is central to Canada’s story.

It began in the year of Confederation, 1867, in Stanstead, Québec, when Henry Seth Taylor built the first Canadian-made automobile.

The Taylor Steam Buggy was powered by a simple coal boiler and mounted on a wagon-wheeled carriage. It was a one-off, hand-built machine never intended for mass production – but it proved that Canadian-made automobiles were possible.

One hundred and fifty-eight years on, the auto industry is a core pillar of the Canadian economy. More than half a million Canadians wake up every morning, go to work, and bring home a pay cheque because we make cars in this country.

Entire communities have been built around car plants. In cities and towns like Windsor and Alliston, the auto sector remains the largest employer.

Today, Canada’s automotive industry is among the most important in the world.

A large part of that success stems from our close trade relations with the United States, forged over decades of cooperation in automotive cities on both sides of the border.

There is no greater symbol of how closely the Canadian and American economies have been intertwined than the automobile.

The average car is built from parts that travel across the Canada-U.S. border up to eight times before landing on a showroom floor.

Ninety per cent of Canada’s finished vehicles and 60% of our auto parts are exported to the United States. A trade relationship that was once a great strength has now become a serious vulnerability.

I want to be clear: Canada still has the best deal of any U.S. trading partner, with 85% of our trade with the United States remaining tariff-free, and the lowest average tariff rate in the world.

As we prepare for the joint review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement later this year, Canada’s new government remains focused on protecting this unique Canadian advantage.

Our objective is to remove all tariffs in the auto sector to build the strongest North American auto sector, together.

But we recognise that is not the current objective of the U.S. administration. Their approach has changed, so we must prepare for all possibilities. We must take care of ourselves.

We cannot control what others do. We can control what we do – and what we build. And we are building a stronger, more resilient, independent Canadian economy.

We have implemented new strategic measures for workers and businesses in the sectors most affected by American tariffs and trade disruptions.

These initiatives help workers in the steel, aluminum, and forestry sectors, and other strategic sectors across Canada, acquire new skills.

They will also help businesses adapt and diversify their products.

Our government has already implemented the most comprehensive set of trade resilience measures in Canadian history.

We moved fast, and we’re already seeing results:

• Our measures have created and protected 18,000 jobs across the steel, aluminum, lumber, and auto sectors.
• They have prevented more than 20,000 layoffs.
• We have unlocked almost $1 billion in private investment by small and medium-sized businesses.
• We have provided income supports for more than 6,000 workers, with a total of 190,000 expected to benefit, including many in the auto sector.

Our workers are the engine of our economy. As we transform our industries in response to trade measures taken by the United States, we are ensuring that Canadian workers have the tools they need to carry out that transformation.

The future of the auto industry is increasingly electric and connected. To remain competitive and realise our potential, we must develop the entire value chain for next-generation vehicles.

We will harness Canada’s exceptional capabilities in auto production, including our world-class workforce, globally recognised parts suppliers, and leading-edge research and development.

We will combine these strengths with new battery supply chains that will power the future of mobility – reinforced by Canada’s IT expertise and world-leading artificial intelligence and robotics technologies – to position Canada as a global leader in vehicle electrification and autonomous, self-driving technologies.

In the coming weeks, our government will unveil a new electricity strategy to double our grid capacity, modernise our infrastructure, and deliver electricity that is more reliable, more efficient, and, crucially, more affordable for Canadians. This will enable Canadians to adopt low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs), while supporting the electrification and growth of our industries.

With our deep talent, research strengths, and innovation ecosystem, Canada can lead the development of the connected and autonomous technologies that will shape the future of transportation.

We will prioritise diversification, including new opportunities that will be created by Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, to strengthen the industry and its supply chain while leveraging our existing trade agreements around the world.

Canada’s workers and industries are well placed to seize this opportunity. We are making generational investments in critical minerals, including those essential to battery manufacturing, to guarantee our place in the world’s most important supply chains.

Canada will be one of the only countries in the world to have everything required for a complete EV battery supply chain.

We have an electricity grid that is 80% clean, the lowest residential electricity costs, and the second-lowest industrial electricity costs in the G7.

We have everything we need to lead in the vehicles of tomorrow – and we are positioning Canadian workers and businesses to seize that opportunity.

That’s why today, we are announcing a series of strategic investments that will shape the future of mobility and advanced manufacturing in Canada, as part of a coordinated plan to build a stronger, more competitive, more independent country.

Our strategy rests on five pillars:

• First, accelerating investment in Canadian auto manufacturing.
• Second, rationalising emissions reduction policies to focus on outcomes that matter to Canadians.
• Third, strengthening domestic demand by making EVs more affordable and reliable for Canadians.
• Fourth, establishing a comprehensive trade regime that strengthens the competitiveness of Canada’s auto sector.
• Fifth, protecting Canadian auto workers and businesses from immediate pressures while helping to bridge them to the future.

First, we are accelerating investment across the auto value chain.

To support strategic investments by our companies, we are dedicating $3 billion from the Strategic Response Fund and $100 million from the Regional Tariff Response Initiative.

This capital will help our businesses respond to trade disruptions and pivot their operations – retooling plants to increase productivity, investing in advanced manufacturing technologies, and expanding into new markets.

In line with our Buy Canadian Policy, the government will leverage these investments to maximise opportunities for Canadian suppliers and Canadian-made goods and services, including steel and aluminum.

We are also implementing the most comprehensive investment incentives for the auto value chain anywhere in the world.

The new Productivity Super-Deduction will reduce Canada’s marginal effective tax rate to 13% – more than four percentage points lower than the United States.

This means businesses can immediately expense 100% of their investments in manufacturing machinery, equipment, and buildings; zero-emission vehicles; clean energy equipment; scientific research and development; and productivity-enhancing assets, including patents, data network infrastructure, and computers.

To further accelerate investment across the low-carbon mobility value chain, we are implementing the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit and expanding the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit to include a range of critical minerals.

And we are reducing the tax rate for zero-emission technology manufacturers so they can benefit from half the normal corporate tax rate – and that is before deductions.

Put simply, we are making Canada the best place to invest, the best place to build, and the best place to build clean.

The second pillar is to adapt our emissions reduction policies to focus on outcomes.

Canada will set a new, more ambitious sovereign path to reduce automobile emissions. We will drive down emissions by more than doubling the stringency of Canada’s vehicle GHG standards by 2035 – achieving the equivalent emissions reductions of a 75% EV adoption rate.

We will not stop there.

By leveraging new investments in EV production, consumer incentives, and charging infrastructure, we will work toward a goal of achieving the equivalent of a 90% EV adoption rate by 2040.

These more stringent emissions standards will enable the Government of Canada to repeal the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard (EVAS).

Replacing EVAS with stronger vehicle emissions standards focuses on the results that matter to Canadians, while avoiding undue burdens on the Canadian auto industry. This approach will allow manufacturers to use a wide array of technologies to meet the standards and respond to consumer preferences in the near-term, while driving EV adoption over time.

The third way we will transform our auto sector is by becoming our own best customer.

Over the next five years, EVs are expected to account for more than 40% of all car sales worldwide.

Today, nearly 80% of EVs produced worldwide come from China and the United States.

Canada cannot afford to stand idly by.

EVs are the future, and our government is determined to ensure that future is built by Canadian workers, manufactured in Canadian plants, and powered by Canadian vehicle.

In a strong domestic market, we can buy what we build.

That’s why our government is launching a $2.3 billion Electric Vehicle Affordability Program. Canadians who purchase or lease a battery-electric or fuel cell EV will receive up to $5,000, and up to $2,500 for plug-in hybrids priced up to $50,000.

To support the Canadian auto industry, this $50,000 cap will not apply to Canadian-made EVs and plug-in hybrids. And these incentives will only apply to vehicles produced in countries with whom Canada has a free trade agreement.

We are also making it easier – and more convenient – for Canadians to charge their EVs. Too many Canadians worry about being able to reliably charge EVs on their journeys, especially in our rural and Northern communities.

To help fix that, we are developing a new national charging infrastructure strategy. This will include a $1.5 billion investment through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Wherever you live in Canada, charging your vehicle should become as simple as filling your gas tank.

The fourth pillar of our strategy is to establish a comprehensive trade regime that strengthens the global competitiveness of Canada’s auto sector.

Again, to be clear, Canada continues to favour a zero-tariff regime with the United States in autos – that will deliver the strongest North American auto industry.

But if the U.S. insists on auto tariffs, we will ensure that companies that sell vehicles in Canada are strongly incentivised to produce here.

To support this objective, we will explore strengthening Canada’s automotive remission framework through a tradeable credit system that would reward companies that produce and invest in Canada.

In short, companies that manufacture and invest here would earn credits, while companies seeking to sell vehicles in Canada without paying tariffs would be required to purchase credits.

To fully realise the potential of these measures, Canada must leverage its international partnerships to access new global markets.

Canada has concluded free trade agreements with 51 countries, encompassing a market of 1.5 billion consumers.

Our government is continuing along this path, having concluded 12 new trade and security partnerships across four continents in just six months.

Our recent agreement with China will allow a limited number of EVs from China to enter the Canadian market – fewer than 50,000 next year – providing Canadians with more affordable, energy-efficient options.

At the same time, we expect this agreement to catalyse considerable new joint-venture investment in Canada with trusted Canadian partners – creating new auto manufacturing jobs and strengthening the build-out of Canada’s EV supply chain.

Finally, as we transform Canada’s auto sector into a global leader in EVs, we are protecting workers and businesses today so they can bridge to the economy of tomorrow.

We are providing additional income support to employers through a new Work-Sharing grant, giving them the flexibility they need to retain workers and prevent layoffs. The Work-Sharing Program has already helped prevent more than 3,700 layoffs in the auto sector alone.

We are also establishing a new workforce alliance – bringing together industry, labour, and training partners to address skills gaps, remove bottlenecks, and catalyse private investment across the auto sector.

We are launching the automotive task force to drive coordinated action between our government and the Province of Ontario to build the cars of the future.

We are breaking down barriers and working together – across governments, industry, and labour – with a shared focus on delivery.

Together, these new measures form a new strategy that will enable our automotive industry to make Canada a global leader in electric‑vehicle production.

We are focused on what we can control, and on helping Canada’s automotive sector – and the workers and communities that depend on it – adapt, compete, and succeed.

When Henry Seth Taylor built Canada’s first car, he could not have imagined what this industry would become. That Canadian automakers would assemble the world’s first affordable car, the Ford Model T.

That Canadian automakers would scale up production rapidly to become the second-largest producer of cars in the world by the end of the First World War.

That during the Second World War, the industry would quickly shift almost entirely to military production, producing more than 800,000 military transport vehicles and 50,000 tanks to help win the war.

These feats were the result of Canadian determination and ingenuity – of an industry that adapted, pivoted, and, when necessary, transformed.

That is what we must do now to build the vehicles of the future – EVs, autonomous vehicles, reliable vehicles, affordable vehicles.

For a stronger, more resilient, more independent Canadian economy that creates great jobs here at home.

That’s what we are building – together.

That’s Canada strong.

Thank you.