New construction woes for NextStar battery plant in Windsor, Ont.

CTV News has learned there are conflicting labour laws coming into play at the factory that is a joint corporate venture and a joint investment project.

“My Ministry is aware of reports of international workers linked to the NextStar project under federal work permits,” Ontario’s Labour Minister David Piccini said in a statement. “As these individuals may not have the necessary skilled trades credentials to do the work, we have relayed our concerns to the company and stressed their obligations under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act.”

In a series of emails obtained by CTV News, an Ontario Ministry of Labour inspector indicated 11 South Korean professionals – legally working here under federal laws – could not continue because the work they were doing falls outside provincial laws.

Stellantis, the company partnering with LG Energy Solution on the factory, directed media questions back to NextStar.

“I don’t know if its so much as a disagreement,” Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said Tuedsay in Windsor, noting he’s already been in contact with Minister Piccini on the problem.

“We're [going to] figure this out. We're both, I think, on the same side on this. We've got eyes on it right now and I'm going to be talking to the federal employment minister about this as well. We want Canadian jobs,” he said.

Construction of the east-end factory was halted in May 2023 over a dispute about government funding. It was resolved in July and construction restarted.

NextStar has already hired 130 workers. A total of 2,500 workers are expected to be required when the plant begins battery production in early 2025.

In a statement to CTV News, Danies Lee, CEO, NextStar Energy said, “NextStar Energy is fully committed to hiring Canadians to fill more than 2,500 full-time positions at the Windsor battery facility and are engaging up to an additional 2,300 tradespeople locally and throughout the province to help with the ongoing construction and process equipment installation. The equipment installation phase of the project requires additional temporary specialized global supplier staff who have proprietary knowledge and specialized expertise that is critical to the successful construction and launch of Canada's first large scale battery manufacturing facility."