Stellantis will officially launch the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant on February 17.
The automaker announced Thursday that more than 1,700 employees begin the new shift this coming Tuesday, bringing total plant employment to approximately 6,000.
The third shift was eliminated in July 2020, resulting in approximately 1,500 job losses, but Stellantis announced its return in September 2025.
Nearly 250 employees at the Stellantis Brampton Assembly Plant elected to transfer to Windsor after the company announced in October 2025 that it would move Jeep Compass production to the U.S., impacting thousands of jobs at the Brampton facility.
President and CEO of Stellantis Canada, Trevor Longley, told AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, that they have been onboarding people like crazy to get the third shift up and ready to go.
"It's the full meal deal. We needed to do everything we could to get this shift up and rolling. It's been a hiring spree," he says.
The increased production comes as the Windsor plant now assembles the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Voyager, and Grand Caravan minivan, along with the Dodge Charger, which was recently named 2026 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show this past January.
The plant will produce the SIXPACK-powered Scat Pack and R/T versions of the Charger and the all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack.
Longley says they're excited to have a typical three-shift operation.
"Obviously, we're here to build and sell cars, and we're really going to be making the North American Car of the Year, the Dodge Charger. That badass car will roll off the assembly line and make customers smile every day, and that's all going to be coming from Windsor," he says.
Longley says a new Chrysler minivan or Dodge Charger will be rolling off the assembly line roughly every minute.
"Another interesting point is that this is the plant, the only plant in Canada producing a fully electric vehicle with the Charger variant. A first for us here in Canada to produce an electric vehicle. It is a first for us to produce the Charger in Windsor, and we couldn't be happier," he says.
According to the automaker, the three-shift operation will run on midnights, days, and afternoons in all major areas of the plant, including Body-in-White (BIW), Paint, General Assembly, and Material Handling.
Production job types include team members, team leaders, online and offline inspectors, material drivers, subassembly operators, and trainers.
The skilled trades involved in third-shift operations include electricians, industrial mechanics, pipefitters, and toolmakers.