Stellantis Could Face Strike Threat in Canada Over Factory Sale — Update

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--The union representing more than 9,000 Stellantis employees in Canada said Thursday it could be in a strike position in the coming weeks unless the carmaker changes course on its plan to sell a Toronto-area factory to a defense firm.

Unifor officials are weighing their next steps, as the current labor deal with Stellantis expires on Sept. 20, Lana Payne, the union's president, said Thursday. The union's goal is to reach a tentative settlement with Stellantis without a strike, she added.

"However, bargaining remains extremely challenging right now, and we are at an impasse. Therefore, strike action remains a real possibility," Payne said.

Under labor laws in the Canadian province of Ontario, the union would have a vote among its members to pursue a strike mandate.

Unifor declared an impasse after Stellantis confirmed it is in advanced talks with Canadian armored carmaker Roshel about the sale of Stellantis's auto-assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario.

The Brampton factory has been idle since 2024, when Stellantis began retooling to produce its Jeep Compass model. That plan was set aside last year, when Stellantis--under strain from U.S. tariffs on foreign-made cars--said it was transferring production to a plant in Illinois.

Payne said the Brampton factory would represents an important moment for Canada, because it would underscore whether business leaders, workers and government officials are willing to save the country's auto sector.

Automobiles made in Canada face a 25% U.S. tariff, and President Trump has threatened a heftier 50% duty on vehicles and auto parts on Jan. 1 unless Washington and Ottawa come to a satisfactory trade deal.

Talks between the U.S. and Canada broke off last month, in part because the Trump administration was intent on undermining the domestic auto sector, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said.

In a letter sent this week to its employees in Brampton, the chief executive of Stellantis's Canadian unit said the business case for producing the Jeep Compass is no longer valid, citing U.S. trade policy and market conditions.

The company evaluated options to return automotive production to Brampton, but "none provided a sustainable long-term business case that would support continued operations at the facility," Trevor Longley said wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Longley said Stellantis is exploring a sale to Roshel, but no deal has been finalized. The transaction, however, "could support future operations at the site."

A Stellantis spokeswoman said Thursday the company is ready to meet with Unifor to restart labor-deal talks, and encouraged union leadership to meet with Roshel "to better understand their vision" for the factory.

She added that Stellantis believes "this outcome is in the best interest of both the community and employees."

Roshel has said it is willing to make job commitments to affected Stellantis employees in the event a transaction is finalized. Unifor's Payne said the sale to a defense firm is a nonstarter.

Defense firms "exist by government procurement," she said. "It is and cannot compare to a commercial enterprise building vehicles, hundreds of thousands of them, into the market," she said.

The union president on Wednesday sent a letter to Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly calling on her to block any Stellantis-Roshel deal, and demanding to know what Ottawa would do to save auto production. Payne said she has yet to receive a response.

In a statement late Wednesday, a spokesman for the industry ministry said officials are in discussions with Stellantis and Unifor about the future of the Brampton factory, and are ready to take measures to protect workers and secure manufacturing work at the plant. Joly had previously threatened to sue Stellantis to recover taxpayer-backed financing provided to the automaker for factory retooling.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2026 16:24 ET (20:24 GMT)