Ford Motor Company of Canada

Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (French: Ford du Canada Limitée) was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose manufacturing and selling Ford cars in Canada. It was originally known as the Walkerville Wagon Works and was located in Walkerville, Ontario (now part of Windsor, Ontario). The founder, Gordon Morton McGregor, convinced a group of investors to invest in Henry Ford's new automobile, which was being produced across the river in Detroit, Michigan.

The firm manufactures and sells cars in Canada, and also in the United States and other countries around the world.

History The Ford Motor Company of Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, although it once had its own distinct group of shareholders. 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, and Henry Ford himself owned 13% of the new company. The company had gained all Ford patent rights and selling privileges to all parts of the British Empire, except Great Britain and Ireland. It eventually established and managed the following subsidiaries:

Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa Ford India Ford Australia Ford New Zealand

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 to Calcutta, India. Ford is still an important manufacturing enterprise in Windsor.

With the growth in car sales after World 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 in Oakville, Ontario. The new Oakville assembly plant was opened in 1953. In order to meet ever increasing demand, the Company opened another assembly plant in Talbotville, 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.

By 1989, during a peak in the environmental movement, the Ford Motor Company of Canada (particularly its Oakville plant) was listed among the "dirty dozen" polluters in Ontario:

Ford of Canada celebrated its Centennial in 2004, shortly after the Parent Company Ford in the United 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. However, the last litigation in the matter, dealing with an oppression remedy claim by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System with respect to its shareholdings, was only resolved by the Ontario Court of Appeal in January 2006.; leave to appeal dismissed with costs,

In 2010, Ford was embroiled in a controversy surrounding a plan to construct a massive gas-fired power plant to be operated by TransCanada on a disused 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 the Ontario Municipal Board the following January. The plant was one of two involved in the Ontario power plant scandal, which contributed to the resignation of Premier Dalton McGuinty and Energy Minister Chris Bentley.

Key executives 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 include Mark Buzzell who replaced Diane Craig effective January 1, 2017.

Before Craig, Mondragon had served as president and CEO since September 1, 2008, when he replaced Barry Engle who resigned to join New Holland America as its CEO. William H. Osborne had held the position since 2005 and was replaced by Engle in February 2008.

Facilities Current PlantLocationEmployeesYear openedYear closedNotes 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

Former PlantLocationYear openedYear closedNotes 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 PlantWalkerville 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 to Nash Motors and then by American 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

Vehicles produced

Ford Canada has produced the following models over the years:

Model Oakville St. Thomas WalkervilleCanadian Military Pattern truck (World War II) Edsel Citation Edsel Pacer Edsel Corsair Edsel Ranger Ford Crown VictoriaIncludes livery and Police Interceptor models Ford Custom 500 Ford Econoline Ford Edge Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx Ford Crown VictoriaIncludes livery and Police Interceptor models Ford EXP/Mercury LN7 Ford F-150 Ford Fairmont/Mercury Zephyr Ford Falcon Ford Flex Ford Freestar Ford SVT Lightning (2nd Generation) Ford LTD Ford LTD Crown Victoria Ford Maverick Ford Model A Ford Model C Ford Model K Ford Model N Ford Model T Ford Pinto/Mercury Bobcat Ford Super Duty Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz Ford Torino Ford Windstar Frontenac Lincoln MKT Lincoln MKX Lincoln Nautilus Lincoln Town CarMY2008 to MY2011 Mercury Comet Mercury Grand Marquis Mercury MarauderMY2003 to MY2004 Mercury Meteor Mercury Monarch Mercury Monterey (Minivan) Meteor (various models) Monarch (various models)

References

Ford Motor Company of Canada

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