A C$4.9 billion program, an idle Stellantis plant in Brampton, and a Canadian armoured-vehicle maker that until now has sold almost everything it builds abroad.
For decades, when the Canadian Army needed light vehicles, American manufacturers were in the running. This time, they aren’t.
In July, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Ottawa’s Light Utility Vehicle program, worth up to C$4.9 billion, would be open only to Canadian companies. The program covers:
- Vehicles: between 1,600 and 2,100 armoured and unarmoured vehicles for the army
- Trailers: between 400 and 500
According to CBC News, the decision sidelined the program’s two American finalists, AM General, maker of the Humvee, and Oshkosh Defense. Two Canadian companies remain in contention. One is Roshel, an armoured-vehicle maker based in Brampton, Ontario. The other has not been publicly confirmed.
The move is part of Ottawa’s new defence industrial strategy, which aims to award 70% of defence purchases to Canadian companies.
For Roshel, it is a reversal. Its vehicles are in service in Ukraine, and the company recently won a contract to supply 100 vehicles to Moldova’s army. But almost none have gone to Canada’s own forces.
“We weren’t able to sell to our own government,” CEO Roman Shimonov said. The company exports “100 per cent” of what it builds.
From Jeeps to armoured vehicles
Roshel’s ambitions now extend to one of Ontario’s best-known car plants.
Stellantis’ Brampton Assembly plant has been idle since 2023. More than 2,200 Unifor members who worked there are still laid off. The plan had been to retool the plant for the next generation of the Jeep Compass. In October 2025, workers learned from a recorded phone message that the Compass would be built in Illinois instead. The message came just before Stellantis announced a $13 billion investment in the United States.
The decision angered Ottawa. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has warned that Stellantis could face demands to repay government funding if it does not keep its commitments in Brampton.
On 11 September, Stellantis signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel for a possible sale of the plant. “Stellantis believes that Roshel represents a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at Brampton Assembly,” said Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley.
Roshel says it wants to build a “Canadian Centre of Excellence for Defence Manufacturing” on the site, including ballistic steel production, and hopes to “bring more than 2,000 jobs back to the site.” It has offered laid-off Brampton workers first consideration for those jobs.
Unifor is not convinced. The union objects to a third party getting involved in its contract talks with Stellantis and has urged the government to prevent a sale. “The proposed facility closure and sale threaten the wages, pensions and other benefits of Unifor members,” Unifor spokesperson Kathleen O’Keefe said.
On Monday, Unifor announced that 97.3% of its Stellantis members had voted to authorize a strike. The vote, held on 17 and 18 October, covers Brampton Assembly, Windsor Assembly, Etobicoke Casting and parts depots. No strike has been called, and neither side has yet requested the “No Board” report required before a legal strike or lockout.
Several things have to fall into place before any Roshel vehicle rolls out of Brampton:
- The sale: no final deal between Stellantis and Roshel has been signed.
- The union: Unifor’s contract talks with Stellantis are unresolved.
- The contract: Ottawa has not yet chosen a winner for the Light Utility Vehicle program.
If they do, the result would be a Canadian army vehicle, built by a Canadian company, in a plant an American-owned automaker left behind, under a contract American companies are no longer allowed to bid on.
Stellantis moved the next Jeep Compass from Brampton to Illinois. Ottawa has now closed its C$4.9 billion army-vehicle program to all but Canadian bidders.
Sources
- Stellantis signs MOU with Roshel on potential sale of Brampton plant — CP24/The Canadian Press, 11 September 2026
- Unifor urges government to prevent sale of Stellantis Brampton plant — CP24/The Canadian Press, 16 September 2026
- Stellantis workers vote 97.3% in favour of strike authorization — Mopar Insiders, 19 October 2026
- Union says Stellantis mulling closure and sale of idled Brampton plant — CP24/The Canadian Press, 14 August 2026
- CBC News, on the Light Utility Vehicle program and the exclusion of AM General and Oshkosh Defense, July 2026
- Prime Minister’s Office, Light Utility Vehicle program announcement, July 2026