NextStar Energy confirms foreign worker count at Windsor battery plant

NextStar Energy has confirmed the number of foreign workers coming to Windsor to help get its new electric vehicle battery plant up to full operation.

On Thursday, a statement from NextStar Energy in response to questions from CTV News indicated approximately 1,600 technicians will “assemble, install and test” the specialized equipment required to build the batteries; and up to 900 of those technicians are predominantly from South Korea.

“They have specific knowledge of the equipment, having been part of the team to build it and disassemble it for shipping, and will therefore see the installation through,” reads the release.

According to NextStar Energy, the work is expected to last between three months to 18 months — upon which time those specialists are expected to return home.

The company stressed the positions “are not permanent full-time jobs.”

The company also reiterated its commitment to create 2,500 full-time positions at the new NextStar Energy plant for Canadians.

Concern over the number of foreign workers hired to work at the facility arose following an Ontario Ministry of Labour inspection indicated 11 South Korean professionals could not continue their work because it fell outside provincial laws.

“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,” said David Piccini, the provincial labour minister, in a statement on Nov. 17.

With the new LGEngergy Solutions battery plant being built, we expect approximately 1,600 South Koreans traveling to work and live in our community in 2024.

— Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) November 16, 2023

A follow-up statement was issued by Marc Arsenault, PBCTCO, and Wayne Peterson, CECCO on Friday..

 

“The recent comments made around the Nexstar Energy Project in Windsor Ontario are concerning and need to be taken seriously. We have been involved in the construction, installation and maintenance of projects within the auto, EV and battery sector as it has evolved and grown over the last decade. We have worked with a number of owners on the construction and installation of specialized equipment, working collaboratively to determine specialized skillsets and oversight needed to complete projects safely. But the fact remains that Ontario workers and contractors are trained, qualified and experienced to do the bulk of the work on the Nexstar Energy Project and the suggestion that over 1000 workers need to be brought in on permits to get this completed is a false narrative. Put simply, there isn’t a project in Ontario that our Ontario contractors and skilled trades workforce can’t build and, we urge the company and the Government to engage in dialogue with industry to ensure that happens in Windsor," said the statement.

A Nov. 16 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Windsor Police Service following a meeting with Korean ambassador Lim Woong Soon also raised questions when it referenced an expectation of “approximately 1,600 South Koreans” would be coming to “work and live” in the region as of 2024.

The figure became a lightning rod for controversy among politicians in Toronto and Ottawa in the days and weeks to follow.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for a full inquiry into the issue while Ontario’s ministers of labour and economic development, Piccini and Vic Fedeli respectively, wrote a letter to the federal government calling for the number of foreign workers in Ontario currently at the Windsor construction site and how many would be arriving under federal programs be disclosed.

Earlier this week, federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said he expected NextStar Energy to bring “very few” foreign workers to help transfer battery manufacturing technology as Canada establishes a new industry.

The plant will be Canada’s first large-scale electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant and is expected to receive $15 billion in public subsidies.
 

—With files from CTV's Siobhan Morris, The Canadian Press