$5 billion EV subsidies for 1,000 jobs
Late in April, the federal government announced that it, along with Honda, will be building a new electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario, next to the existing Alliston assembly plant.
The $15-billion project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs in addition to the 4,200 already existing at the plant, which will be retooled.
The federal government is expected to give Honda roughly $2.5 billion in tax credits for clean energy and electric vehicle supply chain investment. Meanwhile, Ontario will contribute up to $2.5 billion for capital costs and site services.
The $5 billion EV subsidies for 1,000 jobs means taxpayers are paying $5 million per job.
“There is really no underlying economic rationale,” said Robert Gillezeau, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto‘s Rotman School of Management, in the same CBC report. “I think those spends are more about politics than they are about economic development.”