A Winnipeg-based bus manufacturer is establishing a new facility to make electric buses in Canada with the help of nearly $40 million in new funding from the federal and provincial governments.
The funding will allow New Flyer, a subsidiary of multinational corporation NFI Group, to fully manufacture its zero-emission buses in Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba said Friday.
“This is about putting a made-in-Canada stamp on the buses that bring people to work in Winnipeg, in Toronto, in Canadian cities that we love so much,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said at a news conference to announce the funding.
Right now, the company builds bus shells in Winnipeg then completes the buses at its Alabama facility. The company will be leasing a new space where it will do the final completion and commission of transit buses, including the installation of battery electric chargers and hydrogen fuelling, said Jennifer McNeill, an executive with NFI Group Inc.
It’s expected this will lead to the creation of 250 jobs in Winnipeg, the province said in a news release.
The facility is expected to be up and running by the end of 2025.
The federal government is contributing $15 million toward the project, while the province’s total contribution will be $23.4 million — a $10 million capital contribution, plus a $13.4 million interest waiver on an existing $50 million loan.