An Introduction: The Hon. Victor Fedeli

The Honourable Victor Fedeli is a lifelong entrepreneur, serving the Ford government as Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. His business experience led his firm Fedeli Corporation to be ranked in the Top 50 Best Places to Work in Canada in 1989. In 2011, he was elected and is now serving his fourth term as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Nipissing.

Growing Ontario’s Economy

At the heart of Ontario’s economic strategy lies a commitment to creating a thriving business environment that encourages businesses to invest, expand, and create good-paying jobs.

When we came to office in 2018, we knew the high cost of doing business was one of the primary barriers for companies looking to locate in the province.

We took immediate action to lower the cost of doing business in Ontario, by cutting over 500 pieces of red tape, lowering taxes, and reducing the unnecessary regulatory burden that was stifling business growth and investment.

Through the tax actions our government has taken, the annual cost of doing business in Ontario has been reduced by $8 billion.

This has allowed for businesses to invest, expand, and create over 850,000 good-paying jobs for communities across the province.

In Ontario’s auto sector, we landed over $45 billion in new investments over the last four years, positioning the province to be a global leader in electric vehicle production for decades to come.

Our life sciences sector is growing rapidly, with over $5 billion in new investments from global biomanufacturers and health sciences companies.

Invest Ontario, our provincial investment attraction agency, has been crucial in helping to land important, job-creating investments. Whether it’s advanced manufacturing, cutting-edge technology, or transformative life science discoveries, Invest Ontario connects global businesses to Ontario’s diverse and dynamic economy.

In just a short time, Invest Ontario has helped secure more than $4 billion in investments, creating over 4,000 jobs across the province. These strategic investments are driving economic growth and ensuring that Ontario remains globally competitive.

Delivering Results: Success Stories in Ontario’s Automotive and Life Sciences Sectors

Since we took office, we have seen significant growth in Ontario’s automotive and life sciences sectors, key drivers of economic growth in our province.

In 2019, global automakers planned to spend $300 billion globally to ramp up the production of electric vehicles, but not a single dollar was planned for Canada.

At that time, the jobs of the 100,000 men and women who worked in the auto sector were at risk.

Our government was not going to simply watch as our auto manufacturing sector, an industry that Ontario had an historic competitive advantage, was eliminated as global automakers shifted to electric vehicle production.

We worked to land $45 billion in transformative auto and electric vehicle investments in just the last four years. That is more than any U.S. state has landed in that same period.

In April, we welcomed Honda’s $15 billion investment to build an end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain in Ontario, the largest automotive investment in the province’s history.

As part of this investment, Honda will establish four new manufacturing plants in Ontario, including a new stand-alone battery manufacturing plant in Alliston, which will create over 1,000 good-paying direct jobs.

Through two joint venture partnerships, Honda will also build a separator plant with Japan’s Asahi Kasei in Port Colborne, and a cathode active material and precursor processing plant with Korea’s POSCO. These investments will create thousands of additional direct and indirect jobs across Ontario.

In Windsor, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution invested $5 billion to build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, creating 2,500 good-paying local jobs for the region. In October 2024, the plant began module production, a pivotal landmark for their operations, with full production expected to be underway by late 2025.

In St. Thomas, Volkswagen is investing $7 billion to build their first overseas electric vehicle battery plant, which will create 3,000 good-paying direct jobs, and up to 30,000 indirect jobs across the supply chain.

Through these strategic investments, tens of thousands of good-paying jobs are being created across the province.

Ontario’s success is not limited to auto manufacturing. Since 2018, Ontario has attracted $5 billion in life sciences investments that have helped to create over 5,000 good-paying jobs.

That includes companies like Sanofi, who opened their $800 million Toronto vaccine manufacturing facility in May. The 200,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility will employ 200 people and produce life-saving vaccines for domestic and global markets.

OmniaBio, a leading biotechnology company, built a $580 million cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility in Hamilton, which led to the creation of 250 new jobs. The facility will help advance innovative medicine with the potential to cure many forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

AstraZeneca, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, invested $500 million to advance their research on cures for cancer and rare diseases in Mississauga. Their investment created 500 new, scientific and research jobs.

These are just some of the many life sciences companies who have chosen Ontario to expand their operations in.

Our government has set an ambitious target of growing employment in the life sciences sector to 85,000 by 2030, up from 72,000.

To achieve this target, we released Ontario’s Life Sciences Strategy, Taking Life Sciences to the Next Level, the first strategy in over a decade. We recently announced Phase 2, an all-of-government approach that will position Ontario to be a leading life sciences hub for decades to come.

Ontario’s automotive and life sciences sectors are just some of the sectors that have seen rapid growth since we came to office. Our government remains laser-focused on ensuring the conditions are there for companies to invest, expand, and create jobs in every sector and every region of our economy.

Looking Forward

Today, there are 850,000 more men and women working than before. Investments from domestic and global companies are flowing into our province at unprecedented levels.

Businesses and investors look to Ontario as a beacon of hope. They know our province has everything they need to be successful and that is why we are seeing so many companies choosing Ontario as the destination to grow their operations.

While our economy has made significant progress since 2018, there is more work to be done. We are going to continue to ensure the conditions are there for businesses to succeed and create more good-paying jobs for local communities across the province. Our message to companies from across the world has been clear: Ontario is open for business and there is no better place to invest and expand.