Within weeks, construction will begin on what is to become the largest EV battery manufacturing plant in Canada.PowerCo, a Volkswagen subsidiary, announced Thursday the awarding of two major contracts for structural steel and foundation work for the $7 billion gigafactory at the Yarmouth Yards industrial park in St. Thomas.
Meredith Gibbons, Chief Procurement Officer for PowerCo Canada, called the announcement a major milestone.
“We’ve been very busy working hard to get this thing up and running. Today’s major milestone for the St. Thomas gigafactory is the announcement of our two major contracts: structural steelwork to SteelCon and the concrete foundation work to Magil Construction.”
She stressed both Steelcon (with six fabrication facilities in Ontario) and Magil Construction (based out of London) are Canadian-owned and operated businesses.
“We’re very proud and passionate that we always run an open market tender here at PowerCo, open to the market and working with people, and obviously, we’re very excited to be able to award these contracts to two proudly Canadian-owned companies here.
“But yes, it was a lot of work, a lot of collaboration among the teams and with the supply base and with these two great companies.”The initial phase of construction will focus on the first cell production building incorporated in the massive facility and will require over 32,500 cubic metres of concrete and 500,000 square feet of formwork.
Steelcon will deploy a dedicated team of over 500 skilled Canadian employees directly on the project, including more than 30 from London and Southwestern Ontario.
“There are six different blocks to the factory. This one is specifically in the first block that we’re building up right now.
“Our goal is to copy and paste as much as possible in order to maintain efficiencies, but obviously, you learn as you go.”
“We’re definitely aiming to maintain our project timelines as of right now. So we’re excited to kick it off and see where we end up.”
“We are proud to partner with PowerCo Canada to build the St. Thomas gigafactory, a project that embodies the future of Canadian industry,” noted Steelcon President Danny Bianco.
According to PowerCo, the foundation work to be delivered by Magil Construction is one of the largest foundation packages to date in Southwestern Ontario. It includes the construction of foundations for three buildings, encompassing a total floor area of 850,000 square feet.
Magil President Paul Henke, in a media release, stressed, “Our commitment to working with local trades and suppliers means this project will be built by the community, for the community, laying the groundwork for economic prosperity and job creation across Southwestern Ontario.”
Gibbons said while the exact start date has yet to be determined, the aim is to remain on schedule for opening the facility in 2027.
“Within weeks, I can’t say the exact day as of right now, but it’s within weeks now, which is very, very exciting.
“We’re definitely aiming to maintain our project timelines as of right now. So we’re excited to kick it off and see where we end up.”
PowerCo has locations in Spain and Germany, with the St. Thomas operation being the first in North America.
“These kinds of things, while impactful, are temporary. And our view is that we’re building this for decades to come, not just for the next few years.”
Gibbons noted they will piggyback on the knowledge gained in the construction of those facilities.
“Yes, 100 per cent. Passing on lessons learned and wisdom is very important in order to maintain a long business, which is what we’re looking at here.
“The long-term future. So we always incorporate lessons learned as much as we can.”
Gibbons advised that she is already at work on the next procurement announcement.
“Right now, we actually have a very large tender on the market that we’re calling Box One, and it’s really building the first building in that first block that I mentioned earlier.
“And we’re working closely with the Canadian market right now for this next step once we have that foundation and steel laid.”
She stressed PowerCo is primed to weather whatever economic impacts are churned up during President Trump’s tariff war.
“These kinds of things, while impactful, are temporary. And our view is that we’re building this for decades to come, not just for the next few years.
“So we will weather whatever is going on now because we’re really looking at the big picture and the long-term impact of this project.”
This is the second major announcement from PowerCo this month.
On Aug. 6, the firm launched a hiring campaign with high-quality, well-paying jobs now available.
“So basically what we’re trying to do now,” advised Norman Wickboldt, Chief Human Resources Officer at PowerCo Canada, “is we are going to have more activity on the actual construction site, and then we will have two, let’s say, locations. One here, we will still use that office here (on Talbot Street in the downtown core), but our focus will then slowly but surely shift to the work that needs to be done at the site.”
Initially, there are about 50 job openings, ultimately expanding to about 3,000 jobs in St. Thomas.
As to the end product, will they be lithium-ion or a new technology?Gibbons responded, “We’re building this factory to support products that our customers want.
“This is very important to us because we plan to be relevant for a very long time. So step one is that we build a factory, and step two, if we need to pivot, we’ll do as we need.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT BUILDING TRUST IN SCHOOLS
As outlined in the Supporting Children and Students Act, introduced by the Ford government at the end of May, there is a provision whereby public school boards would be required to implement School Resource Officer (SRO) programs in areas where they are offered by local police services.
In 2021, the Thames Valley District School Board hit the pause button on the SRO program, board-wide.
The London District Catholic School Board followed suit.
Since then, there has been a review of the program, but no indication that the officers would return to schools.St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp has been a strong proponent of SROs, and in an interview with him in June, he advised that without their presence in schools, things have “gotten out of hand.”
“We have a gap in service delivery for a number of obligations that we owe the community. We owe our young people their safety in schools, and we’ve seen an increase of nearly 60% in violence in schools in the city of St. Thomas alone. Behaviours have just been allowed to kind of get out of hand, to be quite honest.
“It’s just going to stop. These bathroom beatdowns, these hallway fights, this bullying, these sexual assaults, just the crimes that are happening in schools and that are going unaddressed.”
“And it built trust. And that’s just a commitment to our youth that we want to continue. And it builds bridges, and it prevents those emergencies that we don’t want. We don’t want an emergency in a school setting.”
And so, on Wednesday of this week, the St. Thomas Police Service announced Const. Michael Kaiser will be the new Community Services Officer in city schools, beginning in September.
In a media release from St. Thomas Police, it was noted, “the reinstatement of this role will reflect the approachable and supportive presence that has long been a hallmark of the school officer position, building on a legacy of support, and meaningful connections within our school communities.”
Roskamp continued, “We have trained police officers who provide mentoring opportunities and develop relationships with young people and educators, and break down those cultural barriers and work collaboratively.
“That’s always been the goal with members of the school community. It really is just about building trust.”
As the Community Services Officer, Const. Kaiser, “Will take on the important responsibility of serving as the school liaison for all elementary and secondary schools in the City of St. Thomas.
“He is currently undergoing focused preparation to ensure he is well-equipped to provide meaningful, proactive support to students, educators, school administrators and parents across the community.”
It’s all about building trust, added Roskamp.
Over the years, the police service has had a half-dozen or more officers who have spent a considerable amount of time building positive relationships with students.
“And it built trust. And that’s just a commitment to our youth that we want to continue. And it builds bridges, and it prevents those emergencies that we don’t want. We don’t want an emergency in a school setting.
“And so our presence is an early crime prevention tactic, and it serves as a deterrent. And we’ve been saying this for years. And to be quite honest, there’s just not much more we could say.”
He continued, “We are proud to provide this dedicated resource to our school community. Const. Kaiser brings strong communication skills, approachability, and a passion for youth engagement. He will play a key role in fostering safe, respectful learning environments by building strong relationships with students, staff, and families, supporting safety and well-being, and acting as a trusted resource within the school community.”
According to the police service, Const. Kaiser “Will be involved in a wide range of initiatives including intentional curriculum connections in classrooms, violence prevention efforts, crisis response support, and the development of positive, trust-based relationships between police and youth.”
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ADVANCING THE CITY’S PRIORITIES
“The team had a successful week . . . and is proud to bring St. Thomas’ priorities to the table.”
That was St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston’s summation of the city’s delegation attending the 2025 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference earlier this week in Ottawa.
In addition to the mayor, the team included councillors Lori Baldwin-Sands and Gary Clarke, Sean Dyke, Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corp., and Heather Sheridan, the city’s Director of Social Services.Pictured from left, in the group photo are Southwold Mayor Grant Jones; Todd McCarthy, Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks; Mayor Preston; Coun. Clarke and Coun. Baldwin-Sands.
According to the city’s Advocacy Briefing Package, long-term needs include:
- Delivering on affordable/supportive housing and support for brownfield remediation
- Support for capital funding to expand the early years system and assist with staff recruitment and retention
- Increase regional transit connections
Concerning housing, the Advocacy Package notes, “Generally, St. Thomas and other local governments require sustainable financial support to enable and provide community and affordable housing at the rate it is needed.”
Looking at funding for early years programming, the city would like to reallocate unused local priorities funding through “a business case process to keep the funds in the community to support new builds and expansion of the early years system.
“The city is also seeking clarity on plans for, as well as provincial support and funding for continued recruitment and retention strategies for adequate staffing.”
St. Thomas is also calling on support from the Ontario government for an incentive program and/or direct funding “to assist with the costs of environmental remediation to support residential development on former industrial lands.”
In meetings with provincial representatives, the city put forth a series of targeted requests:
- Reform Ontario’s property tax assessment and appeals system
- Provide additional cost-sharing measures to support growing local police expenses
- Change the Family Health Organization (FHO) model requirements to expand availability of the model; specifically, allow municipalities to be the leaders and funding recipients of the FHO to allow them to independently staff an FHO
- Reevaluate the public health model, especially with respect to its governance and financing
- Expand funding for adult day programs and seniors’ recreation services to support aging in place
- Reform Ontario Works legislation to allow only a 25 per cent deduction on income earned above the threshold
We spoke with Mayor Preston yesterday (Friday) to gauge the outcomes with provincial officials.
“We brought Heather Sheridan with us to AMO, our housing and childcare expert, and it made a huge difference.
“And Sean Dyke was with us too, so we could spend some time talking about our economic expansion. What else has to happen in our community?”
An important conversation, noted Preston, was with Environment Minister Todd McCarthy regarding brownfield remediation.
“He’s got some neat new plans. It’s something we’d really like to do, but it’s really an expensive solution. But it does look like now there’s some cooperative effort, specifically communities like ours that are trying to do infill.
“Specifically, communities like ours that are trying to do infill on old railway land or on old industrial land. And we talked about records of site conditions and how long it takes us to get through some of that.
“So look, we’re having lots of those regional kind of conversations and they’re really going pretty smoothly now, compared to maybe how we used to be, right?”
“And he was very receptive to our conversation.
“You know, there’s a whole strip of land through our community there. And almost everywhere else we look, there’s some contamination.”
Preston pointed to the site work underway on Wilson Avenue, south of Memorial Arena, for residential development.
He continued, “And lately, we’ve included in our Community Improvement Plan dollars to allow developers to do the first steps of evaluating the land to see what their trouble is.
“And until you can get a small bit of work done, then you know how big the real problem is going to be. So we’ve been working on funding some of those projects.”
Touching on transit, the city wants the province to deliver increased support for inter-community transit initiatives.
The city has partnered with Middlesex County to operate the bus service linking St. Thomas with South London and Dorchester.However, the funding expires next March.
“We don’t want to lose it (the regional bus service). And we certainly want to push harder for it to even be expandable so more people can come here to work and our people here can go elsewhere to work.
“So I want to make sure that it’s an economic reason to have a better transit system. But of course, we’re still continuing to look in St. Thomas and what else we can do better.”
Copying the Middlesex transit model, can this be expanded to centres like Port Stanley and Aylmer?
“How do we work together to do that? How do we figure out who pays for it, and figure out how the provinces can help us all do it together?”
With a projected population of 80,000 in 2051, what needs to be done with area roads to handle the increased traffic?
Especially with the redevelopment of the former psychiatric hospital lands.
“If there’s going to be that many people living just south of St. Thomas, then what roads do we have to change?
“What do we do with Sunset Road, for example, because that’s going to be the main thoroughfare to that area and out of that area.
“So look, we’re having lots of those regional kind of conversations and they’re really going pretty smoothly now, compared to maybe how we used to be, right?”
THE ECHO CHAMBER
Responding to last week’s item on the city’s emergency shelter, The INN, and Coun. Earl Taylor’s defeated motion to seek a new home for the facility, Dave Mathers provided this insight.
“We hosted the Inn Out of the Cold at our church (Central United) for 12 years. Thanks to great inn management, our church never had any garbage outside the building.
“The trash in the alleyway next to the current INN is unacceptable, and management should have it cleaned up. If it takes shutting down the alley and fencing it in to hide all the shopping carts and wagons, then that’s what should be done.
“The facility is a visual blight on our proud community.”
Meantime, the author of the motion, Coun. Taylor forwarded this thought.
“I’ve had so many people agree that we need an immediate change, not only to restore our downtown to a successful business district but to provide those who need the services of the emergency shelter with a new and better environment.
“I know there’s a solution, but I need everyone to be on the same side with the common goal of making a positive change. Until that happens, our city suffers.”
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