Ottawa talks tough on Stellantis. Windsor Assembly still waits.

Windsor Assembly is down again this week, a sixth idle week since mid-September for about 6,000 workers. Ottawa has sent Stellantis letters, a default notice and an import quota cut, and vows to get its money back. Still no restart date.

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Windsor Assembly is down again this week. Stellantis cancelled production for the week of Nov. 9, the fourth week in a row and the sixth week without production since mid-September at a plant of about 6,000 unionized workers. The company has not announced when production will restart.

Stellantis says the downtime is about the market. "Stellantis continues to evaluate and adjust its manufacturing operations in response to evolving market conditions, including consumer demand and the impact of tariffs," spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said.

For Windsor families, the question is what Ottawa is doing about it. More than a year into the federal government's fight with Stellantis, the public record shows strong words, letters, legal notices and one trade penalty. It does not show any money recovered, a new vehicle for Brampton, or a guarantee for Windsor's third shift.

What Ottawa has done

The federal response started fast. On Oct. 15, 2025, after Stellantis said it would move Jeep Compass production from Brampton to Illinois, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly wrote to Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa calling the move "unacceptable." She wrote that Ottawa would "hold the company to full account, and exercise all options, including legal."

Joly told MPs she then summoned Stellantis Canada's chief executive to an Ottawa meeting with Ontario's economic development minister and Unifor's national president, Lana Payne. On Oct. 23, 2025, Joly and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne cut the number of U.S.-built vehicles Stellantis can bring into Canada free of counter-tariffs by 50 per cent.

On Nov. 3, 2025, Joly told MPs the government was starting the 30-day formal dispute resolution process under its funding contracts. On Dec. 4, 2025, she announced Ottawa was serving Stellantis with a notice of default under contracts tied to projects in both Windsor and Brampton. "We'll stand firm for the sake of our workers, our industries and our nation," she said. Stellantis said it did not agree it was in breach.

Payne later called that early response "strong, determined and decisive."

On Oct. 21, 2026, Ottawa and Ontario announced $2.5 billion over two years for large auto capital projects, up to $1.5 billion of it federal. Prime Minister Mark Carney said it would help plants "from Windsor to Woodstock" build the vehicles of the future. Unifor welcomed it.

Where it stands now

Stellantis has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the idle Brampton plant to Roshel, an armoured vehicle maker, which would end carmaking at the site. On Sept. 16, 2026, Joly said: "We want a new model from Stellantis at the Stellantis plant and we'll put maximum pressure to make that happen, and if they don't, we'll get our money back." In the House on Sept. 21 she said: "We need the Stellantis Brampton workers back on the job."

Unifor and Stellantis reached a bargaining impasse on Sept. 11, 2026, largely over Brampton. Members voted 97.3 per cent for a strike mandate in October, but they are not in a legal strike position. Unifor says it also wants product commitments for Windsor and the Etobicoke casting plant.

Payne wrote to Joly on Sept. 16 asking what role, if any, Ottawa played in the Roshel deal. She wrote again on Nov. 4, saying months of talks between Stellantis and federal officials "have so far yielded no acceptable solution" and Unifor "has not been a party to these discussions." Stellantis told the union on Nov. 3 that its position had not changed.

Unifor says Ottawa answered quickly. It told members on Nov. 5 that Joly "has confirmed the federal government's participation" in a four-party meeting, "with the aim to set a date in the near future." Unifor said it asked for that meeting partly because of the extended down weeks at Windsor Assembly and the lack of assurances that the plant's footprint and third shift are secure. As of Nov. 5, Stellantis had not said whether it would attend. Stellantis said talks with Ottawa are ongoing.

The Windsor stakes

Windsor has a direct stake in the contracts at the centre of the dispute. Joly's own letter says Stellantis took on legally binding commitments to Canada through federal funding agreements.

Ottawa's January 2026 trade arrangement with China cut the tariff on up to 49,000 Chinese EVs a year to 6.1 per cent. Unifor has urged the government to reconsider that stance.

Windsor-Essex's three Conservative MPs, Harb Gill, Kathy Borrelli and Chris Lewis, said in February that "the Liberals do not care about the workers and families of Windsor."

What it means for you

If you work production at Windsor Assembly, stay home this week unless a supervisor calls you in. Skilled trades work as scheduled. Keep each layoff notice and pay stub, and take pay and benefit questions to Unifor Local 444. Windsor News will report the next plant schedule and the date of the four-party meeting once it is set.

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