Government of Canada invests in first made-in-Canada electric vehicle

As Canada moves closer to a zero emissions future, there is a growing need to manufacture and supply made-in-Canada solutions for our automotive sector. The Government of Canada remains committed to supporting the automotive sector to design and build the next generation of connected, autonomous and zero emissions vehicles in southern Ontario and accelerate the transition to a net zero emissions economy.

This is why today, the Government of Canada announced a $5-million FedDev Ontario investment in the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) to support Project Arrow, the automotive industry’s first Canadian-made, zero emission concept vehicle. Irek Kusmierczyk, Member of Parliament for Windsor–Tecumseh, highlighted the regional impacts it will have in Windsor-Essex.

With a membership accounting for 90 percent of all independent automotive parts manufacturers in Canada, APMA will utilize its longstanding connections in the automotive manufacturing industry to bring together key industry and academic partners in southern Ontario to facilitate Project Arrow. The partners will work together to design, engineer and build a connected and autonomous zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) concept car and its digital twin, which will be used as a virtual platform for testing and validating connected and autonomous (CAV) technologies before they are integrated into the physical car.

FedDev Ontario’s investment in this project will support 80 jobs, leverage over $6.6 million in other funding, support at least 40 automotive suppliers and technology firms, and generate $50 million in additional investment.

The FedDev Ontario funded Virtual Reality CAVE at Invest WindsorEssex will be home to some of the key project activities surrounding the digital concept vehicle, which will be used as a virtual platform for testing and validating connected and autonomous (CAV) technologies before they are integrated into the physical car. The concept vehicle will also act as a blueprint for battery development and integration, tech transfer and intellectual property development.

The project will lead the transformation of Canada’s automotive sector from traditional fuel vehicle development to zero-emission vehicle development, showcasing the capabilities of the Canadian automobility and digital technology sectors to compete on the global stage. It will also help to create a robust electric vehicle supply chain in Canada, increasing Canada’s domestic electric vehicle development capacity in everything from electric powertrains and CAV systems to battery production.