Honda ‘Indefinitely’ Suspends $15 Billion EV Plant in Ontario

Honda has officially announced it is suspending plans to build a $15 billion electric vehicle (EV) factory in Ontario.

Honda Canada confirmed to The Epoch Times in a May 14 statement that the “previously postponed” investment project has now been “indefinitely suspended.”

The Japanese automaker said this would not impact current employment or production levels at its factory in Alliston, Ont., where it said “operations continue to meet strong demand for Honda Civic and CR-V models.”

Earlier in the day, Honda Global CEO Toshihiro Mibe held a press conference in Tokyo, where he said the company will focus on rebuilding its business structure over the next three years. He said Honda will reallocate more resources towards hybrid models that are “high in demand.”

Nikkei Asia had first reported on May 6 that slowing vehicle demand in the United States had forced Honda to freeze plans for the Canadian EV factory and shift its focus toward hybrid vehicles. Honda Global recently announced its profits for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, had fallen by 24.5 percent year over year, and that U.S. automotive tariffs would further impact earnings.

Mibe had announced in May 2025 that the company would need to postpone some large-scale investments in Canada for a period of two years, as the EV market had “slowed more than initially expected.”

Shortly after Mibe’s announcement, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she had been assured that no Canadian jobs would be lost or modified, and that Honda was “fully committed to major EV investments” in Canada.

Honda’s large-scale EV supply chain project was first announced in April 2024 by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Both leaders pledged they would invest $2.5 billion each for the factory.

The planned EV complex in Alliston, which was to be completed in 2028, was projected to create around 1,000 manufacturing jobs and produce 240,000 vehicles a year. The second part of the initiative would have seen Honda establish a “comprehensive EV value chain” in Canada, from the procurement of raw materials for vehicles to the finished production of EVs.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said on May 14 that Honda had made a “disappointing decision,” but that the choice impacted “additional jobs, not current jobs.” Carney said with global oil prices rising due to the Iran war, the shift away from internal combustion engines and towards EVs are “certainly progressing globally and likely to progress here.”

Carney had said on May 6 that the Liberal government was in “constant contact with all the major automakers,” including Honda. Carney noted that Canada has twice the rate of foreign direct investment than the U.S. when adjusted for population, and said the government will “continue to get that investment, despite the efforts of the Americans.”

Pierre Poilievre said on May 6 that Canadians were “terribly saddened” by Honda’s decision to suspend plans for the Ontario factory, which he described as evidence of the “collapse of auto production under this Liberal government.”

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.