According to both federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne and De La Soul, three is the magic number.

Champagne was in Windsor, Ont., on Monday alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other VIPs for the latest in a series of spending announcements intended to future-proof the Canadian auto sector. As my colleague Jesse reported Friday, Stellantis will build an assembly line at its Windsor plant that can assemble battery-electric or hybrid models and boost its Canadian R&D spending. The company confirmed the plans Monday, and also announced an upsized plan to retool its Brampton, Ont., plant for EVs and hybrids.

Champagne said three was the “magic number of the day,” representing the restoration of three shifts a day at the plants in both Brampton and Windsor under Monday’s deal, as well as the three stages in the federal government’s new EV sales mandate. 

Here are some other key numbers: 

$3.6 billion: The total spend to retool the two Stellantis plants in 2023 and 2024, including over $1 billion from the federal and Ontario governments. That’s up from the less-than-$1.6-billion commitment Stellantis made a year and a half ago, and more than the $4 billion it invested from 2010 to 2020. It’s also quite a bit more than what most of the other big automakers have committed in Canada.

$8.6 billion: The total being spent on upgrading Stellantis’s Canadian operations, including the $5 billion Windsor battery plant it’s building with LG.

• 50 per cent: The rough proportion of the Ontario auto investments that actually went specifically into hybrid or electric vehicle production in the last 18 months, or more than $7 billion of the nearly $14 billion in pledged spending. 
• 9,204: Stellantis’s workforce in Canada as of Jan. 1, with 2,500 new hires planned for the battery plant. The Ontario government’s commitment to Monday’s deal hinged on Stellantis retaining a certain number of employees, according to documents Jesse obtained.
• $45 billion: The total Stellantis plans to spend globally on electrification and software through 2025.
• 650: The number of engineers Stellantis will hire for R&D as it builds a battery-testing lab in Windsor.

The reaction: “I’ve been involved in this sector for almost 30 years, and cannot recall ever seeing investment announcements in terms of both number and scale like we have seen over the past 18 months,” said Shane Wark, assistant to Unifor’s national president, at a press conference. 

Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444, put it more frankly: “Minister Champagne … your relentlessness on this file was great. I know that I gave you crap a few times, because it wasn’t coming fast enough for my liking, I guess. … I’m glad that we stuck with you.”