Automotive & Advanced Manufacturing

Industry Size and Composition | Labor Force
Business Competitiveness | Innovation | Success Story

Three major auto manufacturers – General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler – collectively operate six assembly plants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). General Motors, Ford, Honda, KIA, Mazda, Suzuki, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Subaru, Volvo, BMW, and Mitsubishi chose the GTA for their Canadian headquarters.

More than 700 parts manufacturers help make the GTA one of the most vital and diverse automotive clusters on the continent. In all, GTA automotive companies employ close to 50,000 workers, second only to Detroit, and produce more than 1.1 million cars, trucks and minivans per year.

The GTA is also home to dozens of plants producing diversified automotive parts. Much of this production is exported to the United States, making the automotive industry a key contributor to Canada's export trade.

Industry Size and Composition

The Greater Toronto Area is the second largest automotive cluster in North America:

The GTA is Ontario’s # 1 Automotive Cluster with 58% of Ontario’s total vehicle production, six major auto assembly plants and more than 700 parts manufacturers.

The GTA is also home to more than half of Ontario’s advanced manufacturing firms.

The GTA is situated in a very competitive region. The auto industry in the province of Ontario produces more vehicles than any region or State, except Michigan. 2.5 million vehicles were manufactured in the Greater Toronto Area in 2003.

Source: Ward's AutoInfoBank January 19, 2004.

Industry Leaders in Automotive Assembly and Parts Manufacturing

Investments

Substantial investment and growth in the GTA's automotive industries have created one of the most diverse and profitable automotive clusters in North America.

Examples of recent investments:

Taking advantage of the Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy (OAIS), in October 2004, Ford announced the investment of CDN $1 billion to retool its existing Oakville plant. It is Ford’s first flexible manufacturing plant in Canada, which will also include an R&D Centre focused on fuel-cell technology.

Early in March 2005, General Motors was the second automaker to benefit from OAIS. GM’s CDN $2.5-billion project will establish an automotive “Centre of Excellence” at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, in Oshawa. It is designed to improve links between auto suppliers, universities, researchers and students in automotive engineering, design and innovation. Overall, the investment will create 500 jobs in the southern Ontario communities of Ingersoll, Oshawa and St. Catharines.

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Labor Force

Best in North America for Productivity and Efficiency

Without question, the GTA’s high-volume vehicle assembly plants offer the highest productivity and efficiency in North America. For example, General Motors’ GTA operations are rated as 14% more efficient than its U.S. operations for labor hours per vehicle, according to the 2004 Harbour Report. That figure rises to 34% when compared to General Motors’ operations in Mexico.

Well-educated, highly skilled workers

Ontario’s 43 colleges and universities produce more than 25,000 graduates per year in math, engineering, and pure and applied sciences. The GTA is second only to Boston, Mass in the number of engineering and science graduates per year.

Ontario universities consistently rank in the top 10 of North American engineering programs. University of Toronto is ranked as Canada’s top engineering program, while McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) offers the top manufacturing engineering program in North America.

Annual enrolment in tool & die and machinist apprenticeship programs has tripled since 1993.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Education, The Gourman Report, 1999.

Educational institutions offering programs related to the automotive manufacturing industry

Targeted Skills Programs

More than CDN $16 million has been invested in strategic skills programs for the automotive industry in Ontario since 1998.

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Business Competitiveness

Labor Costs

Ontario offers one of the most competitive labor costs in North America.
Labor costs in the GTA are 32% lower than leading automotive clusters in the U.S.

Operating Costs

Toronto is a highly competitive location for auto parts manufacturing.

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Innovation

Canada and Ontario Support Innovative Investments

Canada and Ontario are working hard to ensure the continued strength and growth of the Canadian automotive industry. In 2004, the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council (CAPC) released, “A Call for Action: A Canadian Auto Strategy,” while the Ontario Government launched the Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy (OAIS), a new five-year, $500 million program designed to strengthen the industry’s competitiveness.

These strategic initiatives will support private sector investment with:

• Advanced skills training to keep pace with new technology and processes.
• Innovation through consumer credits and commercialization tax credits.
• Over $1 billion for leading-edge investment in automotive engineering and manufacturing facilities.
• $300 million to improve border-crossing infrastructure and regulatory harmonization.
• New environmental technologies and energy efficiencies.

In addition to the Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy, Auto 21, a Canadian government Centre of Excellence, focuses on research for improving competitiveness in the automotive sector. Auto 21 employs the expertise of 230 top researchers in more than 35 academic institutions, government research facilities and private labs nationwide.

Success Story

GTMA Helps Taiwanese Firm Choose the GTA--A Success Story

“All of them!”

Those are the GTMA services that Mobiletron Electronics says it needed to set up its operations in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We had no idea how to get our foot in the door and set up a business in Canada,” said Mobiletron Account Manager Karin Kessler, leader of the company’s new Canadian operation. “The GTMA was able to advise us and link us with the expertise and resources we needed to get going quickly and efficiently.”

Mobiletron is a division of the More Group, a Taiwanese manufacturer of quality automotive electronics and power tools, more than 1,500 products in all. The company employs 1,800 people in factories in Taiwan and China, sales and distribution offices in the UK, U.S. and Canada, and its head office in Taichung Hsien, Taiwan.

Established in 1982, Mobiletron places heavy emphasis on product design, engineering and manufacturing quality. The company operates its own stamping, mould-making, moulding and machining operations, and maintains certified quality assurance witness testing departments.

Mobiletron’s contact with the GTMA began in April 2006 through the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei. The manufacturer had landed a supply contract with a major Canadian national retailer, and was looking for a location in Canada that would enable to service the account. The company also had its eye on expanding its sales in the Canadian marketplace. It asked for information about locating in the GTA.

“The GTMA made a great presentation,” Kessler said. “They outlined the business advantages of the southern Ontario area, and convinced our directors to locate here.”

Once the decision was made, the GTMA connected Mobiletron to panoply of resources. GTMA’s network of partners helped the company to find a location J.J. Barnicke), navigate immigration issues (Green & Spiegel), handle the legal aspects of setting up a business (Gardner Roberts) and build an accounting system (BDO Dunwoody). “The GTMA was able to prescreen partners and put us in contact with the appropriate resources,” Kessler said. “We could not have found such excellent professional resources so quickly without the GTMA’s help.”

Mobiletron Electronics Canada Co. Ltd officially opened the doors to its Brampton office in July 2006. Kessler anticipates that the company’s operations in Canada, while initially established to provide product and customer support for one account, will move to expand its sales and distribution presence in the Canadian market and in the northeastern U.S.

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