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 Ford Canada head office with the Oakville plant at right in 2009 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1904; 121 years ago (1904) |
| Founder | Gordon Morton McGregor Henry Ford |
| Headquarters | , Canada |
Area served | Canada, U.S. |
| Products | Automobiles,pickups |
| Services | Automotive finance,Vehicle leasing,Vehicle service |
| Revenue | seeFord Motor Company for details |
| Parent | Ford Motor Company |
| Divisions | Lincoln Canada |
| Website | ford.ca |
Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (French:Ford du Canada Limitée) was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford cars inCanada. It was originally known as the Walkerville Wagon Works[1] and was located inWalkerville,Ontario (now part ofWindsor, Ontario). The founder,Gordon Morton McGregor, convinced a group of investors to invest inHenry Ford's new automobile, which was being produced across the river inDetroit, Michigan.[2]
The firm manufactures and sells cars in Canada, and also in the United States and other countries around the world.
The Ford Motor Company of Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary ofFord Motor Company,[3] although it once had its own distinct group of shareholders.[4] At its formation, Ford Motor Company was not a shareholder of Ford Canada, but its twelve founding shareholders directly held 51% of Ford Canada's shares, andHenry Ford himself owned 13% of the new company.[2] The company had gained all Ford patent rights and selling privileges to all parts of the British Empire, exceptGreat Britain and Ireland.[5] It eventually established and managed the following subsidiaries:[6]
The Model C, the first car to be produced in Canada, rolled out of the factory in late September 1904. The company could produce two cars at a time and in its first full year of production, the company was able to produce 117 automobiles. The company's first export sales were toCalcutta,India. Ford is still an important manufacturing enterprise in Windsor.
With the growth in car sales afterWorld War II, together with the acquisition of majority control by Ford Motor Company, Ford of Canada decided to move its head office and build a new assembly plant inOakville, Ontario. The new Oakville assembly plant was opened in 1953. In order to meet ever increasing demand, the Company opened another assembly plant inTalbotville, Ontario, in 1967.
Historically Ford was one of the most powerful companies in Canada, and in the 1970s, Ford was the "largest" company in Canada.[7]
By 1989, during a peak in theenvironmental movement, the Ford Motor Company of Canada (particularly its Oakville plant) was listed among the "dirty dozen" polluters inOntario:
"Ford broke lots of rules with the 13.8 million litres of waste it pumped intoLake Ontario every day until a few months ago, when it began a two-stage cleaning process.
"The company used to flush out an average of 392 kilograms (875 pounds) of solids with that waste water every day. It also poured out chemicals thatsucked oxygen out of the lake. Ford also had on-and-off problems with the amounts ofphosphorus (the chemical largely responsible for nearly killing Lake Erie decades ago) andphenols it discharged.
"The first stage of cleaning up this mess was a $6.8-million, upgraded version of the treatment system it already had on its site. The second stage sends waste water throughHalton Region's sewers, so that no water is flowing directly into the lake."[8]
Ford of Canada celebrated its Centennial in 2004, shortly after the Parent CompanyFord in theUnited States did in 2003. That year also saw the compulsory acquisition by Ford Motor Company of the last of the shares held by minority shareholders, which had been originally proposed in 1995.[9] However, the last litigation in the matter, dealing with anoppression remedy claim by theOntario Municipal Employees Retirement System with respect to its shareholdings, was only resolved by theOntario Court of Appeal in January 2006.[10]
In 2010, Ford was embroiled in a controversy surrounding a plan to construct a massivegas-fired power plant to be operated byTransCanada on a disused 13.5-acre (55,000 m2) portion of its Oakville assembly plant. Local residents and politicians pleaded with Ford not to continue with the plan, as residents believed it would negatively impact their health and safety. The province cancelled the generating station in October 2010 and both Ford and TransCanada withdrew their planned appeals to theOntario Municipal Board the following January.[11] The plant was one of two involved in theOntario power plant scandal, which contributed to the resignation ofPremierDalton McGuinty and Energy MinisterChris Bentley.
In 2021, Bev Goodman became president/CEO of Ford Motor Company of Canada, replacing Dean Stoneley who has been appointed as general manager, North America truck, Ford Motor Company, a newly created position. Previous CEO's includeMark Buzzell who replaced Diane Craig effective January 1, 2017.
Before Craig, Mondragon had served as president and CEO since September 1, 2008, when he replacedBarry Engle[12] who resigned to joinNew Holland America as its CEO.William H. Osborne had held the position since 2005 and was replaced by Engle in February 2008.[13]
| Plant | Location | Employees[14] | Year opened | Year closed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakville Assembly Complex | Oakville, Ontario | 3550 | 1953 | Still active | Also Canadian Headquarters |
| Windsor Engine Plant | Windsor, Ontario | 950 | 1978 (original engine plant opened in 1923) | Main building closed, annex still active | Produces 7.3L V8 engine for Super Duty pickups and commercial vehicles |
| Essex Engine Plant | Windsor, Ontario | 930 | 1981–2007; reopened late 2009 | Still Active | Flexible engine plant, produces 5.0L V8 engine for Mustang and F-150 |
| Plant | Location | Year opened | Year closed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor Casting Plant | Windsor, Ontario | 1934 | May 30, 2007 | Now Demolished |
| Essex Aluminum Plant | Windsor, Ontario | 1981 | February 13, 2009 | Built originally to make cylinder heads for Essex Engine Plant, later as joint venture with Alfa SA of Mexico subsidiary Nemak; once produced engines for Mustangs, E-series vans and F-series trucks |
| Ontario Truck Plant | Oakville, Ontario | 1965 | 2004 | retooled and reopened as part of Oakville Car Plant |
| Walkerville Plant | Windsor, Ontario | 1904 | 1954 | At foot of Drouillard Road and Riverside Drive East; former Canadian Headquarters before move to Oakville and main assembly operations also known as Plant 1; two storey brick structure demolished 1969 and now abandoned lands facing the Detroit River |
| St. Thomas Assembly Plant | Talbotville, Ontario | 1968 | September 2011 | Only production facility for the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor for fleet orders, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car for limo operators. |
| Niagara Falls glass plant | Niagara Falls, Ontario | 1961 | 1994 | The factory used to produce windshields, windows and lights for cars and trucks from plate and sheet glass provided by suppliers. The plant produced parts for the Canadian and American operations. |
| Dupont St Assembly Plant | Toronto, Ontario | 1910 | 1927 | Assembly relocated to Danforth Plant. The building (672 Dupont St) now houses Condominiums |
| Danforth Avenue Plant | Toronto, Ontario | 1922 | 1946 | Sold toNash Motors and then byAmerican Motors Corporation 1954 to 1961. Converted as mall,Shoppers World Danforth. |
| Portage Ave Assembly Plant | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1915 | 1941 | Now known as the Robert Fletcher Building |
| Hamilton St Assembly Plant | Vancouver, British Columbia | 1919 | 1938 | Production moved to Burnaby plant in 1938 |
| Burnaby Assembly Plant | Burnaby, British Columbia | 1938 | 1968 | Building demolished in 1988 to build Station Square |
| Montreal Assembly Plant | Montreal, Quebec | 1916 | 1932 |
Ford Canada has produced the following models over the years:
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