Business leaders speak strengths, hurdles for Canada’s EV innovation

The all-day occasion, hosted by Electrical Autonomy in partnership with NGen, introduced collectively leaders advancing electrical car manufacturing in Canada to debate alternatives, challenges and map the path to most success
Canada’s benefits within the race to develop the nation’s EV financial system potential are substantial, however the alternatives might “slip away” if pressing motion is just not taken.
That message was one of many key themes highlighted on the inaugural EV Innovation & Know-how Convention this week in Toronto.
The one-day occasion was hosted by Electrical Autonomy at Humber Faculty’s Barrett Centre For Know-how Innovation. It introduced collectively personal and public corporations throughout the spectrum of Canada’s electrical car worth chain to debate the state of trade alongside municipal and provincial authorities officers and thought leaders in attendance.

“Innovation is a staff sport,” stated Jayson Myers, chief government officer of convention associate Subsequent Technology Manufacturing Canada (NGen) in a gap handle. “We have to go to the place the puck goes.”
The sold-out occasion, with greater than 200 contributors, featured an eight-session program. An array of marquee audio system got here to debate Canada’s EV readiness, next-generation batteries, sustainable provide chain, expertise gaps, coverage challenges and far, far more. And the revealing of a map of Canada’s EV provide chain — created in partnership between Speed up, Electrical Autonomy, NGen and Trillium Community for Superior Manufacturing — supplied a singular view of the depth and breadth of Canadian property.
A abstract of the convention discussions is beneath.
Urgency a prime concern for Canada’s EV provide chain
The day started with an all-women panel made-up of among the most influential members of Canada’s automotive sector: Marissa West, president and managing director of GM Canada, Linda Hasenfratz, government chairman and CEO of Linamar Corp., Lana Payne, nationwide president of Unifor, and Rachel Doran, director of coverage and technique at Clear Power Canada.

Their wide-ranging dialogue, beneath the umbrella of “retooling manufacturing,” coated growing a talented workforce, scaling EV manufacturing in Canada, coverage imperatives and inspiring innovation.
However the important thing message threading by way of every matter? Urgency.
“It’s excruciatingly sluggish,” stated GM Canada’s West, about getting growth tasks underway. “We can’t undergo [this process] each single time.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Hasenfratz.
“You’re going to want a will since you’ll be lifeless earlier than it’s finished,” stated Hasenfratz.
However, cautioned Clear Power Canada’s Doran, “it’s going to be a troublesome stability.” Accelerating growth shouldn’t come on the expense of Canada’s fame as a inexperienced provider. This identification is a significant benefit on the worldwide stage.
Regardless of the big potential, Unifor’s Payne emphasised that, purple tape apart, nothing will get finished if there isn’t a talented workforce. This requires important funding from trade to leverage at-home expertise.
“We’ve been going through this demographic cliff for a while,” stated Payne.
“We’re in a singular second the place the world is taking a look at provide chains differently. Attempting to localize extra of that offer chain base is crucial. That’s how we’ll get the roles of the long run.”
The necessity for upskilling the workforce and investing in put up secondary and commerce packages is “pressing” agreed the panel. Not taking rapid steps to “streamline” laws and enhance workforce coaching might imply Canada’s “alternative slips away,” stated West.
Placing the E, S and G in ESG
What does it imply to have a Canadian EV provide chain that’s sturdy in all three ESG pillars: environmental, social and governance?
It’s a easy query with an advanced reply.
“If we need to reshore our provide chain. But when our complete pitch is that we’re greener — that’s not sufficient,” says Simon Thibault, senior director for the battery provide chain at Investissement Québec. “Should you’re simply ESG-compliant that’s not sufficient. Not on this local weather. In the end, it’s an industrial coverage.”

A real ESG provide chain, agreed audio system on the second panel of the morning, is predicated on a strong regulatory framework that helps and fosters sustainable enterprise practices, leveraging native expertise and sources and transparency.
It rewards each the great suppliers and the great shoppers for adhering to the extra stringent and rigorous requirements.
The thought sounds nice on paper, nevertheless it’s been harder to place into follow.
“It takes 5 to eight to 10 years making an attempt to get the permits. That’s the place the danger lies. Should you can get rid of that [by shortening the permit process] then you’ve gotten a win-win,” stated Ahmed Elganzouri, sustainability director at Magna Worldwide.
A element of ESG presently impacted by sluggish allowing processes is battery recycling.
Eva Carissimi, vice-president and common supervisor at battery recycler Lithion, and Li-Metallic president Kunal Phalpher — who assist launch recycler Li-Cycle earlier than shifting to Li-Metallic, a developer of lithium steel anodes and lithium steel manufacturing applied sciences for subsequent technology batteries — agreed recycling is an important a part of sustainable manufacturing for EVs. However that side of the trade is having challenges scaling to fulfill the wants of the long run.
“The regulatory framework [in Canada] in the present day is just not tailored to circularity,” stated Carissimi.
However even the place regulatory gaps are hindering progress, the tempo of zero-emission car adoption is forcing modifications within the trade that span expertise to laws.
“The trade has modified extra within the final 5 years — and can within the subsequent 5 years — than it has within the final 50,” stated Rob Wildeboer, chairman and co-founder of Martinrea Worldwide.
“You’re not on this enterprise until you might be actually revolutionary.”
Innovation 101: Go the place the puck goes
Within the race to find and develop the next-generation battery, Canada holds a powerful place — nevertheless it might be higher.
Whereas there may be already coast-to-coast analysis and growth, superior testing amenities and an rising manufacturing sector, “we’d like extra,” stated Asmae Mokrini, staff lead supplies for vitality applied sciences on the Nationwide Analysis Council of Canada — considered one of six contributors in a day panel on next-generation batteries.

“We want extra mines to have minerals, have accountable mining [and] have all of the processes from the minerals to the battery-grade supplies,” defined Mokrini. “We have to have that experience in-house and innovate in that house in addition to collaborate. I feel these are the issues we have to do quick.”
Xanadu is a Toronto-based quantum computing {hardware} and software program firm. It holds partnerships with Volkswagen and BMW (amongst others) with the last word aim of utilizing quantum computing to simulate battery supplies in help of the design of future batteries.
Collaborating with OEMs on battery growth has the potential to hurry up battery materials testing course of considerably, stated COO Rafal Janik. Nevertheless, he cautioned that their work is extra concerning the long-term — having an influence in 5 to 10 years — than extra rapid improvements.
“The battery house is one which we selected to interact on for 2 principal causes. One, from an economics viewpoint, it’s very huge and well-funded,” stated Janik. “However extra importantly it’s not a single computational problem that we’re making an attempt to resolve. Everyone’s engaged on this mandate mission to construct the quantum pc that may deal with these issues.”
The place your complete panel have been aligned was in highlighting two main sticking factors: securing a talented workforce and pushing the tempo of EV and battery innovation. Each points require cash to resolve.
“What the federal government might be doing extra is investing in individuals,” stated Mark McArthur, director of inner R&D at Novonix. “Pushing by way of these new vitality storage packages and taking a look at universities and all of this enjoyable stuff.”
It’s a ache level in all areas of trade, not simply batteries. Nevertheless, throughout the expert workforce, the battery expertise sector has a further problem: skilled expert employees.
“Twenty years of expertise takes 20 years to construct. You’ll be able to’t fast-track that,” stated Dan Blondal CEO, director and founding father of Nano One Supplies Corp.
There’s expertise across the globe with excessive ranges of expertise however the problem is funnelling them into Canada.
“Now we have to activate a program to permit us to deliver a minimum of a modicum of that expertise to Canada to be the educators of our rising workforce,” stated Blondal.
Making ready for the subsequent bend within the highway to EV innovation
The ultimate panel of the day targeted on bridging the expertise hole. Attendees heard how, along with drawing expertise to Canada, different members of the trade are additionally concentrating on leveraging extra of the present expertise at residence.
“We want extra individuals within the pipeline. We want them now and we will’t wait two years,” stated Guido Benvenuto, vice-president of engineering at automotive parts maker Flex-N-Gate.

Many employees within the auto trade are involved EV manufacturing will imply the lack of tens of hundreds of jobs. Whereas that is true for some Tier 2 and Tier 3 auto elements makers, that doesn’t imply there gained’t be different jobs to fill.
EVs require their very own elements and ecosystem help. The quicker the transition occurs the extra jobs there will likely be to fill.
“Should you’re going to construct a expertise pipeline you have to do it proper and you have to do it with some longevity,” stated Lauren Tedesco, senior vice-president on the Automotive Elements Producers’ Affiliation.
It’s now crucial that corporations and governments direct employees in any respect ranges of expertise into upskilling packages, agreed the panel, which additionally included Ali Emadi, professor and Canada Excellence Analysis Chair Laureate at McMaster Automotive Useful resource Centre (MARC), and Simon Pillarella, director of expert labor and funding at Propulsion Québec.
The session highlighted an array of coaching, upskilling and recruitment packages already underway.
MARC, for instance, hosts the largest college program in transportation electrification in North America. It additionally just lately started providing short-course coaching packages for engineers already within the trade needing retraining in electrical motors, energy electronics and batteries — new areas of excessive demand within the EV sector.
To help the expansion of Quebec’s EV sector, Pillarella outlined how Propulsion Québec’s EnRoute program — a profession hub in electrical and good transportation — is offering a discussion board, in-person and on-line, the place corporations and job seekers can join.
Two APMA expertise packages cited are Pushed and the Fairness Range Inclusion Fund (EDIF). The previous is on-line coaching that gives upskilling for employees within the trade. The latter helps recruit potential hires from minority and underrepresented communities and gives them with intern-style short-term postings with the aim of these resulting in everlasting placements. To this point, the EDIF program has a 100 per cent rent fee.
Tedesco additionally advocates for creating consciousness about jobs within the automotive sector, expert trades and tech at the highschool and even elementary school-levels.
And now there’s a helpful real-world instance to level to when speaking concerning the viability of those careers.
Tedesco was a part of the staff that developed and made the all-Canadian IP car, Mission Arrow. It’s a important physique of labor. Not does it showcase the literal nuts and bolts of Canada’s auto and tech sector, nevertheless it proves next-generation automobiles could be constructed efficiently in Canada.
“We constructed a whole car and demonstrated what the long run can maintain for youths,” says Tedesco.
Ministerial and CEO keynotes
The EVIT program additionally featured a pair of morning and afternoon keynote shows and a closing hearth chat between NGen’s Myers and Victor Fedeli, minister of Financial Growth, Job Creation and Commerce with the Authorities of Ontario.

The latter offered a tantalizing teaser concerning the years forward within the province’s EV battery provide chain.
“You’re going to see 4 lithium mines, two nickel mines, a lithium hydroxide facility in NW Ontario…and recycling as effectively. However I’m simply crystal-balling — in fact,” stated Fedeli.
The morning keynote, cut up between John Laughlin, chief expertise officer at NGen, and Matthew Fortier, president and CEO of Speed up, the Canadian EV provide chain alliance, assessed Canada’s EV market readiness and highlighted the methods in place to assist guarantee Canada’s EV ecosystem achieves its full potential.

In his afternoon keynote, Honda Canada CEO Jean Marc Leclerc referred to as for trade cohesion to deal with the important thing problems with the day: urgency, constructing out infrastructure and growing a talented workforce.
“To progress as quick because the auto trade is remitted to maneuver, there must be an enormous coordination effort,” stated Leclerc. “And that effort must be led by authorities.”
With information from Mehanaz Yakub.