When it comes to Toyotas sold in the U.S., one does not often think of our neighbors to the north. Despite silently operating in the background, Toyota Canada has a far more integral role in the Japanese automaker’s North American operations, which also includes Lexus.
Although Toyota is Japanese in origin, it established an extensive manufacturing network here in the States, all to support the company’s largest export market. And Toyota’s presence in America is well-known with around 10 models all made in America. Because of the company’s commitment to the U.S. market, that manufacturing infrastructure ironically makes Toyota one of the most American auto manufacturers in the world, more so even than the domestic Detroit Big Three.
But none of these feats would’ve happened without the help of Toyota Canada, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America that was established 60 years ago in 1964. As Toyota Canada’s operations expanded, it contributed to making the RAV4 and the Lexus RX the best-selling vehicles for both brands in North America.
To pay tribute, Toyota Canada invited me to join a bunch of other Canadian motoring journalists to celebrate the company’s “kanreki.”
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Road Trippin’ For Toyota Canada’s 60th
In traditional Japanese culture, kanreki celebrates a person’s 60th birthday. In translation from the language to English, “kanreki” means “return to origins” and, like a phoenix from the flames, it’s analogized to commemorate a time of rebirth. Kanreki roots itself after Japan adopted the Chinese zodiac calendar, which repeats every 60 years after cycling through 12 signs. Upon reaching the 60th year, it marks a return to the same sign as the person’s birth year.
For Toyota Canada, kanreki arrives after the company founded its operations in 1964, in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada. It was established as one of the first methods of importing Toyota vehicles for the Canadian market, with the company selling a mere 755 cars within its first year. After introducing Corolla to Canadian buyers in 1967, the company observed exponential growth, leading Toyota to establish its first Canadian manufacturing facility, the Point Edward Plant in Sydney, Nova Scotia. That plant also marked the first time any Japanese vehicles were assembled on Canadian soil. That plant however, closed down in 1975/
Toyota’s presence continued growing with the Point Edward Plant incorporating the name, Canadian Motor Industries. By 1970, the company established its main headquarters in Ontario, before officially being named Toyota Canada Inc. ten years later. By 1986, Toyota Canada Inc. grew to build its first true assembly plant called Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC). TMMC officially established the company’s Canadian-based manufacturing division as we know it today. And as they say, the rest is history.
To celebrate this timeline, Toyota Canada planned a 9,000-kilometer, or 5,592-mile, coast-to-coast road trip across the entire country from St. John, Newfoundland and Labrador, to Victoria, British Columbia. Divided by six waves with multiple stops throughout the country at iconic Toyota Canada locations, myself and a large group of Canadian motoring journalists hopped on these waves to help commemorate Toyota Canada’s kanreki.
“The past 60 years have been an incredible journey for Toyota in Canada, and our Kanreki Tour was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on six decades here,” Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada’s Corporate Secretary and a long-time veteran, said in his official statement. Beatty, after nearly 30 years with the company, retired this year. “It was also an opportunity to reiterate our commitment as Canada’s car company – and to Canadian drivers from coast-to-coast to coast – for the next 60 years and beyond.”
The trip itself commenced in St. John and traveled through the Maritimes before ending up in Brossard, Quebec, just outside of Montréal. There, yours truly hopped on board for Wave Three out of the six. From Brossard, our third wave road-tripped across Quebeck and into Ontario with a stop at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, ON. As part of the celebration, the museum inducted the first-ever Canadian-specification Prius, a 1998 first-generation model, into the facility as an exhibit in the museum’s automotive display.
Helping to celebrate the occasion, in attendance were Canadian Motorsport Hall of Famer, Walter Boyce, and co-driver Doug Woods, the only Canadian rally drivers to take a win in the FIA World Rally Championship. Boyce and Woods won the 1973 Press-On-Regardless Rally at the helm of a Corolla. Since then, Walter later took five consecutive Canadian National Championship titles, a record that has yet to be beaten.
From Ottawa, our Wave Three convoy drove on to visit the company’s Eastern Canada Parts Distribution Centre in Clarington, ON. Although built to serve most of Eastern Canada’s Toyota dealer network, the ECPDC also serves as a major hub for the U.S. parts distribution network. If parts were ever in need by a dealer or one of Toyota’s manufacturing plants in the lower 48 and none of the U.S.-based facilities could supply it, there’s a strong chance ECPDC would step in.
Afterwards, the convoy stopped by Toyota Canada’s headquarters in Toronto, where the company pledged a $500,000 CAD to Providence Healthcare in Scarborough to sponsor a renovation of the Toyota Canada Motor Skills Clinic.
Our convoy then paid a visit at Toyota’s Toronto Vehicle Processing Centre, where new Toyotas are processed and prepped before heading to the dealer, with a tour of Toyota Motoring Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) in Cambridge, ON afterwards. TMMC is home to around 8,500 jobs in the region and is responsible for the assembly of all North American-spec RAV4s, Lexus NXs and RXs. So, if you or anyone you know of that drives either of those crossover SUVs, it was made-to-order at TMMC.
With our motoring journalists’ wave present, Toyota Canada also seized the moment to celebrate its 11-millionth vehicle produced in Canada, a white Woodland Edition Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.
Wave Three’s leg then concluded with a trip up north to Winnipeg, where us journalists enjoyed a day of four-wheeling in Yamaha side-by-sides and ATVs, highlighting Toyota’s long-standing partnership with the company on various fronts.
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The Cars
While Toyota Canada featured nearly its entire lineup throughout the entire cross-country journey for sampling by journalists, Wave Three featured the latest and greatest GR Corolla, Prius, Crown Signia, and all-new Land Cruiser.
2024 Toyota Crown Signia
Introduced in 2022, the Crown Signia and its Crown sedan variant succeeds the full-size Avalon sedan. With its standard gas-electric hybrid powertrain with the company’s latest 2.4-liter turbo-four, the Crown Signia served as the chariot for my drive partner and I for the first leg of Wave Three, from Brossard to the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.
Well-appointed and pleasant to drive, the Crown Signia does well as a solid and more practical replacement for the Avalon. Although not a sedan, which is what the regular Crown is for, the Crown Signia serves as a good option for those who want more space than a sedan, but don’t want to make the jump to a Highlander. For the 207-km (128.6-mile) drive to Ottawa from Brossard, then another 389 km (242 miles) to Oshawa from Ottawa, I appreciated the Crown Signia’s comfort, quietness, and pleasant road-going demeanor as a road trip companion.
2024 Toyota Prius
Although not entirely new, having been introduced in 2022, the latest fifth-generation Prius continues making its bold statement. Its attractive and sleek new sheetmetal continues to impress. But most of all, its hugely improved driving dynamics didn’t go missed on our leg from Oshawa, to the various Toyota Canada stops around the greater Toronto area. Despite driving only about 69 km or 43 miles in total in the Prius, it left the impression that it’s by far the best and coolest Prius ever made.
2024 Toyota Land Cruiser
From the Toyota Vehicle Processing Centre in Scarborough, to Waterloo, a journey of about 192 kilometers or 119 miles, we sampled the latest and greatest fifth-generation Toyota Land Cruiser. Sent to North America as a federalized version of the smaller Land Cruiser Pardo, and as a replacement for the larger, full-size model, our tester proved how versatile the model continues to be.
Although we didn’t get to test the Land Cruiser in its prime—off-road and on the trails—it was still a commendable road trip companion. We appreciated its comfort and surprisingly easy maneuverability. And although it’s still a rugged body-on-frame truck, the Land Cruiser ate up the miles with aplomb, further living up to its name and ability to tackle land both on and off the road.
2024 GR Corolla
Saving the best for last, the latest GR Corolla served as our chariot for the 423-km (263-mile) leg from Waterloo to North Bay, ON. Heralded as one of Toyota’s best sports cars as of late, my time in the GR Corolla thoroughly reminded me as to why. With tons of power from its tiny 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, along with its slick and notchy six-speed manual, the GR Corolla made the final leg of our journey a hoot. But even with its sport-tuned suspension and performance bias, the GR Corolla still remained comfortable and quiet on the longer highway stretches up to North Bay.
After traveling 807 miles across Quebec and Ontario to sight-see some of Toyota Canada’s most important facilities, it’s impressive to see how important the automaker’s subsidiary in America’s hat has played such a crucial role in the company’s success in both the U.S. and Canada. Suffice to say, Toyota Motor North America would not be where it is today without the help and establishment of Toyota Canada’s manufacturing and infrastructural facilities. And to that, we say, お誕生日おめでとう (otanjōbiomedetō), Toyota Canada.
