The negotiations playing out in public over the future of the NextStar Energy electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor are being closely monitored by the Conference Board of Canada.
Michael Burt, a vice president with the Conference Board of Canada, says it is a risk they're paying attention to and bad news would impact the economic forecast for the region.
"We've decided in terms of what we're seeing in terms of public announcements, it looks promising, so we're still keeping it in the forecast. It's something we'll keep an eye on over the next couple of weeks until it's resolved," he says.
When the conference board released its Market Outlook this past March, Windsor-Essex was listed as having the strongest economic outlook over the next three to four years in Canada.
The positive outlook was in part due to three major investments in the area - the EV battery plant, the Gordie Howe International Bridge and the new Regional Acute Care Hospital.
Michael Burt, a vice president with the Conference Board of Canada. June 1, 2023 (Photo: Rusty Thomson)
Burt says until they get clarity on which parts of the project will go ahead, it's tough to measure what the impact will be to the region's economic outlook.
"The Windsor-Essex economy is around $15-billion so if you take a billion dollars out of a community of this size, it does have a significant negative impact on the community, " he says. "Really a lot of our growth path is not just that plant, there's the hospital, the bridge, there's other major investments going on. But a lot of our growth is tied to a lot of the activities around that, so it would definitely change the growth path for the community."
Burt says it's not just the electric vehicle battery plant that's impacting the economic outlook for the region.
"There's other smaller investments with out manufacturers in the community, you've got big construction going on in terms of highways, all these things add to the economic prospects. We are looking at roughly 15,000 jobs being created in the community over the next three or four years and that number would be smaller if that plant didn't go ahead," he adds.
Burt was a keynote speaker Thursday in Kingsville at the Invest WindsorEssex annual general meeting.
The federal government continues to negotiate with Stellantis and LG Energy Solution over incentives and subsidies to resume construction and secure the electric vehicle battery plant just off the E.C. Row Expressway near Banwell Road in Windsor.