Roshel to buy Stellantis assembly plant in Brampton for undisclosed amount, automaker says

Canadian armoured ⁠vehicle maker Roshel Inc. will buy the Stellantis assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., the automaker announced Monday.

Roshel will acquire the idled facility and associated equipment from the automaker for an undisclosed amount, Stellantis said.

The companies said they are also exploring future collaboration across vehicle technologies and related services in the defence industry.

In a news release, Stellantis said the announcement will “create a path to return Brampton Assembly Plant to productive industrial use.”

The news comes after Unifor, which represents Canadian workers at Stellantis, said it met with Stellantis on Friday to ask about reports that the plant had been sold and said the company would not confirm or deny if a sale had been finalized.

‘Stellantis has betrayed our members’: union president

Unifor national president Lana Payne said Monday that the sale is an “unacceptable outcome” for the union and its members, calling it the “worst-case scenario.” Closing and selling the plant cuts Canada’s auto vehicle production capacity by 10 per cent, she said.

“Selling an auto assembly plant and losing vehicle production capacity is devastating for the Canadian industry, for our country, but mostly for the workers who have given so much to this company over so many years,” Payne told a news conference.

“Because once that capacity is gone, it’s often gone for good, and along with it, thousands of good union jobs and thousands more along the supply chain,” she added.

“Stellantis has betrayed our members with an underhanded deal to sell the plant and walk away from its commitments to these workers. Allowing the sale to move forward is a critical failure of our national auto strategy and breaks the federal government’s promise to protect auto workers from this U.S. trade war.”

Payne said the union urged the company to keep the plant in a “ready state for future work” despite U.S. tariffs.

“Stellantis has walked away from its obligations to Canadian workers in Brampton. Roshel upfitting trucks for the military is not the same as building vehicles from the ground up,” she said.

The union will meet later this week with company and government officials, she added.

Automaker committed to ‘fair resolution’ for workers

Stellantis said it acknowledges its obligations to workers under their collective agreement and is prepared to engage with Unifor to negotiate a settlement.

“Brampton employees have made lasting contributions to Stellantis, and we take our responsibilities to them and their families seriously. After three years of paid layoff, we remain committed to working with Unifor on a fair resolution,” Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said in the release.

The move opens “new opportunities for Stellantis in the defence industry,” Filosa added.

Roshel founder and CEO Roman Shimonov said the company’s plan is to create a new centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing “which will allow Canadian companies to better serve customers at home and export into allied markets.”

“Aligned with Canada’s defence industrial strategy, it will strengthen our sovereign industrial capabilities, drive local economic growth and bring much-needed manufacturing space and jobs to the Toronto area,” Shimonov said in the release.

In an interview on CBC’s Hanomansing Live on Monday, Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov said the company plans to lease some of the site’s space back to Stellantis, but added Roshel is not assuming responsibility for obligations made by Stellantis.

Shimonov said it is in the best interests of Roshel to utilize as much of the plant as possible, adding it hopes to bring in a major European automaker that he declined to name. Roshel has a letter of intent from the automaker and the plant will not simply manufacture defence vehicles, he said.

“Our goal is to employ thousands of people and we’ll definitely give the first priority to Brampton people,” he said.

In September, Stellantis signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel for a potential sale of the facility.

Over 2,000 workers laid off when plant idled in 2023

More than 2,000 workers were laid off from the Brampton plant when it halted operations in 2023.

In August, the union said it received notice that Stellantis was considering the closure and sale of the plant. The facility had been slated to be retooled for Jeep production, a process that began early in 2024, before the company paused the plan in early 2025.

It later announced it was moving production of the Jeep Compass to the U.S., in what the union called a violation of its current collective agreement, leaving the plant idled indefinitely.

The news of the sale comes as contract talks between Stellantis and the union representing more than 9,000 of its workers in Canada remain at an impasse.

The two sides have clashed over the future of the Brampton site as well as issues around job security. Last month, Stellantis workers in Canada voted to give their union a mandate to strike, with 97.3 per cent of members in favour of authorizing a potential job action.

Unifor said at the time a strike was still its “last resort” and that it hoped to reach a deal with the automaker.

Federal ministers call for return to bargaining talks

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement posted on social media platform X on Monday that the decision to sell the plant doesn’t “erase the commitment” that Stellantis made to its workers.

“We remain focused on finding solutions for the more than 2,000 affected workers and their families. They deserve answers, respect and, above all, a secure future,” Joly said.

Joly said the parties involved must return to the bargaining table. She said she has reached out to representatives from Stellantis, Unifor, Ontario government and the Brampton plan to hold a meeting later this week.

“I expect them to come to the table with a single focus: protecting good-paying jobs in Brampton,” Joly said.

“For Brampton’s auto workers, walking away is not an option. We are unequivocal in our efforts to defend and grow Canada’s auto sector in Brampton and across the country.”

‘Families deserve answers,’ minister says

International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, also MP for Brampton East, said in a post on X that he support Joly’s call to a return to the bargaining table.

“More than 2,000 Brampton assembly workers and their families deserve answers about their future,” Sidhu said.

“This plant has been part of our city’s auto industry for generations. Stellantis made commitments to these workers, and it must honour them.

Sidhu said the federal government will continue to advocate for the plant to deliver good-paying jobs in Brampton.

‘We’re angry today in Brampton,’ mayor says

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said in an interview that Stellantis has a legal obligation to Canadian taxpayers for the production incentives it received to produce cars in the city and a moral obligation to members of Unifor Local 1285 who worked hard for decades at the plant.

“We’re angry today in Brampton,” Brown said on Monday. “Stellantis has an obligation that they cannot renege on.”

Brown said the announcement contained few details about what exactly will be produced at the plant. He noted that the land on which the plant sits is zoned for automotive production.

“If we allow Stellantis to cut and run in Brampton, don’t think for a second there’s not going to be more of this across this country. This is ground zero for Canadian automotive production. I worry, if we allow Stellantis to run, with no consequences, we are really accepting automotive production to leave Canada entirely,” Brown said.

Brown said he is calling on Roshel to work directly with the union local to identify hiring and training opportunities for the laid-off Brampton autoworkers. 

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to certain conditions, including government and regulatory requirements.