Ontario's hopes of landing a new Toyota assembly plant have shifted into higher gear after Ottawa committed $55 million in funding to secure the proposed factory, according to a senior federal official.
The source said cabinet agreed last week to the funding package, which along with provincial dollars are seen as crucial in attempts to entice the expanding Japanese automaker to build its next factory in Woodstock.
The factory could employ more than 1,000 workers and industry estimates suggest spinoff jobs from an auto assembly plant could be as much as 10 to one.
"They're very excited about this one," the source said of Ottawa's interest in the Toyota project.
Toyota already has a massive assembly complex in Cambridge, but amid improving sales is looking to build its seventh North American plant.
The Woodstock proposal will be presented to Toyota's board late next month in Tokyo.
Word of the federal government's commitment followed an auto-parts conference in Hamilton, where the head of Toyota's Canadian manufacturing operations would not speculate on whether the Woodstock proposal will succeed. Ontario is competing for the plant against U.S. states, including Alabama, Michigan and Missouri.
"We've done our best with the co-operations of all of the partners that we need to make that (Woodstock proposal) attractive," said Ray Tanguay, president of Toyota Manufacturing Canada Inc., at the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association conference.
"But at the end of the day, that decision is made in Japan and by our shareholders."
Public incentives are now commonly used throughout North America to attract factories, with governments trading millions of dollars in subsidies for factories that create jobs and boost tax revenues.
Provincial officials will not specify what they might contribute to the project, though sources have suggested federal support had been lagging behind Ontario commitments.
