The Government of Canada announced support for the latest cathode active materials (CAM) facility to be operational in Canada, to be built by a joint venture between General Motors (GM) and POSCO Future M in Bécancour, Québec (earlier post).

CAM are key battery materials that consist of components such as processed nickel, lithium and other materials that make up about 40% of the cost of a battery. The federal government is investing through the Strategic Innovation Fund’s Net Zero Accelerator initiative to support GM-POSCO’s more than $600-million project. The governments of Canada and Québec will each contribute around $150 million to the project.

The GM-POSCO joint venture, called Ultium CAM, will create around 200 jobs and strengthen Canada’s electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and economy for years to come.

The project was first announced in March 2022 to supply General Motors’ fast-expanding battery production in North America. The JV project is under construction and on schedule to begin CAM production in the first half of 2025. Government support, Bécancour’s excellent industrial site and the ability to access Québec’s low carbon hydro-electricity for EV critical mineral processing were all important factors in selecting the Québec plant location.

GM is executing plans to install 1 million units of annual EV capacity in North America in 2025 and grow from there. GM has also announced four US battery cell joint venture plants with one already open and two under construction. The Ultium CAM joint venture project will support production of electric Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Buick and BrightDrop vehicles in North America.