Toronto Global

Aerospace Manufacturing Soars High in the Toronto Region

Jaclyn McNeil — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 18:52:46 +0000

The Toronto Region is known for its vibrant and diverse economic landscape. One of its most dynamic and thriving sectors is aerospace manufacturing. Over the years, this industry has witnessed tremendous growth, cementing the region’s position as a global hub for aerospace innovation and production.

The Growth in Job Creation

The aerospace manufacturing industry in the Toronto Region has seen significant growth over the past decade. Over half of the top 25 aerospace firms are in Ontario, clustered primarily in the Toronto Region.

According to the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), one of the most notable aspects of the aerospace industry in the Toronto Region is its role in job creation, providing employment opportunities for a vast and skilled workforce of over 24,000 professionals in the region.

The Toronto Region forms Canada’s second-largest aerospace cluster with over 9,000 mechanical engineers and 2,000 aerospace manufacturing engineers. This robust job market makes it a vital part of the country’s economy and a rich talent pool for companies to rely on.

Research and Development

The Toronto Region’s aerospace manufacturing industry is a hotbed of research and development. The National Research Council of Canada reports that aerospace companies in the Toronto Region spend approximately $800 million annually on research and development. This commitment is realized through the Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR) hub.

Through DAIR, Ontario’s major aerospace manufacturing players have come together with top academic institutions to create a geographic area at Downsview Park in North Toronto where industry and academia can co-locate for the purposes of bolstering research, innovation, and skill development in the province’s aerospace industry.

The first major instalment of the hub was unveiled in 2018: a $72 million, 130,000 square foot training and research facility for Centennial College with a capacity for 900 students. Other major facilities are in development, including:

DAIR Innovation Centre – a collaborative space to support aerospace companies of all sizes with research, manufacturing, product and process innovation.
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) – part of U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, UTIAS is engaged in a wide range of research areas, including technologies working to reduce the environmental impact of aviation. UTIAS is expected to move into the new campus at the Downsview Hub in 2025.

Global Competitiveness

The aerospace manufacturing industry in the Toronto Region isn’t just a Canadian powerhouse; it’s globally competitive. Seventy-five percent of all Boeing and Airbus commercial aircraft landing systems are produced in Ontario. With over 160 aerospace companies operating in the Toronto Region alone, the region is at the forefront of the global aerospace market.

According to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the region’s two major airports, Pearson International and Billy Bishop, handle more than 40% of all Canadian air cargo, serving as vital transportation hubs for aerospace products and components.

Aerospace Manufacturing Companies Leading the Way

Bombardier Aerospace

Bombardier, the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, has played a significant role in the development of the aerospace industry in the Toronto Region. The company’s presence in the region is marked by its manufacturing facility, which recently expanded to Pearson Airport and was previously located at Downsview Park in North Toronto.

Downsview Park is growing significantly thanks to the DAIR initiative – which Bombardier is a member of. The manufacturing giant chose to continue its investment in the Toronto Region’s rich aerospace cluster by moving about 15 kilometers West to the Pearson Economic Zone.

This expansion allows Bombardier to retain access to the Toronto Region’s highly educated talent and top-notch facilities while keeping a consistent commute for its 2,500 existing staff, many of whom live in the Greater Toronto Area.

This move also keeps Bombardier in proximity to the Toronto Region’s strong aerospace supply chain. Bombardier has 93 suppliers throughout the entire region, including 41 in Mississauga, 11 in Brampton, 17 in Halton Region, four in Durham Region, 15 in Toronto and five in York Region.

Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies (RTX) has been a key player in the aerospace industry in the Toronto Region. Raytheon’s presence in the Toronto Region is comprised of several facilities, including a headquarters in Vaughan, expansive Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) engineering and manufacturing facility in Mississauga, and a Collins Aerospace location in Oakville.

P&WC and Collins Aerospace are leading the global aerospace industry by manufacturing aircraft engines and developing technologies that reduce the environmental impact of aviation. Raytheon Technologies’ prominent presence in the Toronto Region has allowed the company to enhance its operations with access to the region’s thriving ecosystem, contributing to the Toronto Region’s reputation as a hub for aerospace innovation.

Conclusion

With the presence of global industry giants like Bombardier, P&WC and Collins Aerospace, the Toronto Region has established itself as a nucleus for cutting-edge aerospace technology and innovation.

The continuous expansion and investments made by these companies in the Toronto Region not only reflects their commitment to the region but also contributes to the growth of the regional aerospace ecosystem.

As the aerospace industry continues to evolve, the Toronto Region remains well-positioned with a highly educated aerospace workforce, making it an exciting place to watch for future developments in aerospace manufacturing. With huge companies continuously choosing to remain within Canada’s second largest aerospace manufacturing hub, the Toronto Region is soaring high in the aerospace industry. Contact us if you need any kind of information about Aerospace Manufacturing companies in Toronto.

Electrifying the Region: How the Toronto Region Creates End-to-End EV Innovation

Jaclyn McNeil — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 06:57:16 +0000

The Toronto Region is not only electric in atmosphere, but transportation as well. Canada as a whole is diving headfirst into building more sustainable transportation methods for the good of the planet and the Toronto Region is leading the way by investing in a robust electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

Canada’s energy is 82.5 percent emission-free, double that of the United States and 20 points better than the European Union. However, transportation still accounts for 25 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario’s proportion of CO2 emissions generated from electricity has declined from 17 percent to 2 percent in a 15-year period, and the province is taking steps to continue this momentum. As part of the federal 2023 budget, The Government of Canada unveiled a $120 billion clean economy plan.

At the centre of it all is the Toronto Region. EV companies in the Toronto Region leverage an end-to-end EV supply chain to easily source talent, materials, and facilities to create an electric vehicle. What the Toronto Region lacks in quantity of minerals, we make up for in high-tech research and development facilities, an abundance of skilled talent, and a strong supply chain connecting companies to manufacturing facilities across the country.

With the recent announcement from the Government of Ontario that strengthens the trade relationship between Ontario and Michigan, the Toronto Region continues to grow its ties with major EV manufacturing hubs across Canada and internationally. You could build an electric bus from beginning to end right here in the Toronto Region.

The quality and size of manufacturers in the Toronto Region is another major contributor to the strength of the industry. EV companies in the Toronto Region have access to a community of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that choose to stay due to the high volume of EV companies, as well as government incentives. Each OEM’s presence creates a snowball effect that only builds a stronger EV sector for companies in the Toronto Region.

Magna

Magna International recently expanded its Brampton, Ontario facility. This expansion includes a new 490,000 square-foot facility to manufacture battery enclosures for electric vehicles in Brampton, supporting the Ford F-150 Lightning and other future OEM programs. Ford’s presence in the Toronto Region was a key factor in Magna’s expansion.

Tesla

Autonomous vehicles are the future of electric mobility and Tesla’s automation manufacturing facility in Markham, Ontario is making the Toronto Region a major player in this fast-growing field. “Tesla Toronto Automation” has scaled up production of machinery for battery cell production by expanding their facility to 110,000 square-feet.

Stellantis

The world-leading automotive manufacturing corporation, Stellantis, invested $3.4B in its Brampton and Windsor plants to increase EV production. Stellantis’ Brampton plant is recognized globally, having received the World Class Manufacturing award. Additionally, Stellantis’ Windsor branch creates an easy and quick supply chain solution to one of Northern Ontario’s mineral hubs.

Nova Bus and New Flyer

The electrification of public transportation is top of mind in the Toronto Region and Canadian corporations Nova Bus and New Flyer are helping us get there. The City of Toronto is set to shift to all zero-emission Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) vehicle procurement by 2025 and to have a 100 percent zero-emission fleet by 2040. The TTC operates one of the largest electric bus fleets in North America and the electrification of this fleet will make a sizeable dent in the country’s overall emissions. The Government of Canada supports this mission by allocating $140M in funding toward the procurement of electric buses and building infrastructure for EV charging. Nova Bus is located in Montreal, Quebec and New Flyer in Winnipeg, Manitoba – demonstrating the strong interprovincial supply chain operating within the Toronto Region.

Spotlight on York Region

The local EV research and development sector in the Toronto Region is constantly growing. In July 2023, York Region announced the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) is launching an “OVIN Demonstration Zone” in partnership with the City of Vaughan and the City of Markham. The OVIN Demonstration Zone will provide support to SMEs, while testing critical technologies in the autonomous vehicle space. York Region’s incubator VentureLab is also home to one of the OVIN Regional Technology Development Sites. With the new Demonstration Zone, York Region has two strong assets that add tremendous value to EV and autonomous vehicle developers.

“Ontario has emerged as a leader on the global stage as the automotive and mobility sector undergoes a transformation towards connected, autonomous and electric vehicles,” said Raed Kadri, Head of OVIN. “Through the launch of the OVIN Demonstration Zone, we are inviting the world to come see all that Ontario has to offer, from the wealth of critical minerals in Northern Ontario, to the manufacturing strength of Southern Ontario, and everywhere in between.”

EV innovation is popping up at every turn thanks to the strong ecosystem built by world-renowned transportation companies and generous incentives from both the provincial and federal governments. EV is the future of mobility and the Toronto Region’s EV supply chain is future-proof, ensuring that EV software and hardware companies have the resources they need to succeed.

Ebara Brings Trustworthy Customer Service To The Toronto Region With New Expansion

Jaclyn McNeil — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 03:42:00 +0000

Ebara Corporation (Ebara Japan) is a long-standing staple in the global industry of industrial pumps, fans, and blowers. Established in 1912, Ebara Corporation tapped into the Canadian market by opening Ebara Pumps Corporation Canada (Ebara Canada) in the Toronto Region earlier this spring.

Originally based in Japan, this was Ebara Canada’s introduction to Canada and more specifically, the Toronto Region. The renowned company chose Aurora, in the heart of Greater Toronto’s York Region, as its new expansion location due to the easy access to a large number of businesses and customer base across North America.

Led by President Yusuke Nagatani, Ebara Canada works hard to satisfy its Canadian customers with excellent products and service. We sat down with Yusuke to discuss Ebara Canada’s rich history and exciting plans for its Canadian expansion.

Q: Can you tell us more about Ebara Canada?

We import various types of high-quality pump products and parts and distribute them to our customers in a timely manner. We are dedicated to keeping a strategic level of inventory to meet and exceed customer’s expectations in terms of speed and attention.

Ebara Japan has over 100 years of history and we have adapted significantly to support customers while maintaining our principles. This means we have the experience to anticipate customers’ current and future needs. We have many strong points, not only in technical background but also in skill level to solve our customers’ problems. As a result, we will always be able to provide the best solution to customers.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

We are looking forward to expanding our capacity. In the next six months, we will start assembling pump products right in our own warehouse to increase efficiency even further. Although most of our activity is based in Ontario, we are planning to secure an additional warehouse in Western Canada in the future. We also have plans to establish regional offices in various areas based on sales requirements and customer demand.

As a company, we want to be a top manufacturer in Canada. To achieve this goal, we are promoting our brand more and growing brand awareness of Ebara Pump products. We feel we are building the best company in the industry by creating a safe and enjoyable workplace. We prioritize family values on our team. We think the most important thing is employee satisfaction. If employees can work passionately, I believe we can provide the best service to our customers.

Q: What makes Ebara Canada unique?

Our supply chain system is unique. Our group production factories are located throughout the world, so we can provide products and parts from various areas. We use this method to ensure our supply chain is stable. Our biggest factory is in Japan, with other major factories in Italy, Brazil, China, Indonesia and so on. We also import from our assembly facilities in the U.S. When resources are limited, we manage our products based on each factory’s strength and capabilities to ensure the shortest wait times for our customers.

In addition, customers reported a high level of trust in our products, services and solutions. This trust is among our strengths that set us apart, and we pay close attention to customer feedback.

Q: Why did Ebara Canada choose the Toronto Region?

Ontario is home to Canada’s largest economy and the Toronto Region is at its core. Naturally, great companies are gathering in this area, and many of our valued customers have their business operations located here. In addition, infrastructure and transportation networks are well-established and connected.

Q: How has Toronto Global supported Ebara Canada throughout this journey?

Our parent company is Ebara Japan, and this was our first time investing in Canada. Therefore, we did not have enough information regarding business registration, legal regulations, internal company rules, potential warehouse locations, and so on.

When we had exhausted our internal resources, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Toronto introduced us to Toronto Global. COVID was higher risk at the time, so naturally, we first met virtually. We were introduced to Catherine-san, (Catherine Lee, Senior Advisor, Investment Attraction – Asia) who was a quick learner. She was able to recognize our concerns in a short period of time and provide information that was extremely relevant and matched our requirements. I still contact her when I have questions or concerns, and I have appreciated her kind cooperation and guidance throughout the process.

Ebara Canada is expanding rapidly and implementing exciting additions in the process. Ebara Canada’s warehouse is located in Aurora, an ideal spot for a business looking to reach a wide variety of markets. Read the official press release here.

To learn more about how this experienced company has progressed and expanded globally, visit Ebara’s website.

FDI & Talent Attraction: Is the Toronto Region ready to embrace the (semi-)remote work revolution?

Nadine Oliver — Wed, 11 May 2022 23:40:00 +0000

As the future of work moves toward increasingly common remote/hybrid arrangements – shifting activity away from downtown cores and toward housing-friendly suburbs – strategies for attracting talent, FDI, and overall local development will have to evolve accordingly. Competitiveness here means forward-thinking around how to create a larger regional landscape conducive to that desire for flexible working arrangements that top talent has come to expect. For talent-driven economies, it’s an identifiable advantage to claim their region is equipped to understand, respond to, and support a range of work models – especially, flexible, semi-remote hybrid arrangements.

While individual talent can be quite mobile, the communities and the institutions that support them aren’t. This keeps many workers within a loosened proximity to the city of their employer, but not so far as to prevent the occasional commute. Correspondingly, economic activity shifts away from the downtown to the surrounding municipalities.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the City of Toronto has 80 percent less foot traffic to office buildings, according to Avison Young’s Vitality Index. At the same time, census data analyzed by the Toronto Region Board of Trade suggests that a growing number of people are settling outside of the two largest cities in the region – the City of Toronto and the City of Mississauga – while smaller cities within the Toronto Region and larger ‘Innovation Corridor’ region (Brampton, Kitchener, Oakville, Oshawa, etc.) have seen a population growth higher than the provincial average throughout the pandemic.

While the impact of remote work is yet to be fully mapped and the permanency and severity of these shifts still being debated, it’s clear that the future of remote/hybrid work is going to change the regional labour force’s commuting patterns one way or another. This was already a complicated picture, even before COVID-19, since most municipalities in the GTA already had more residents commuting to work in a different municipality than residents commuting within the same municipality.

There are of course various possible approaches to work policies – hybrid, fully remote, and fully in-person – the adoption of which will vary by industry, by company, and where allowed, by individual preference.

Some companies were early adopters of a fully remote strategy, such as Shopify. Yet other companies are now trending toward a ‘best of both worlds’ approach that exemplifies the competing push/pull factors of urban agglomeration vs. remote work. The benefits gained from proximity to innovation ecosystems are pitted against the employees’ desire for flexible work arrangements, lower housing costs, and access to nature. For example, Google’s campus in Waterloo is both expanding its facilities and simultaneously pursuing a hybrid work strategy. Not remote per se, but ‘remote-ish.’

This new pattern also opens up mid-sized cities to participate in the talent economy on a part-time basis. Richard Florida suggests a quarter of remote work happens outside the home. So then are we due for a rise in coworking, coffeeshops, and networking spaces in mid-sized towns? Could bedroom communities now become micro-ecosystems in their own right? There’s a great silver lining opportunity for smaller cities to creatively repurpose unused or underused spaces to attract remote workers.

In any event, a regional cooperation approach is key to monitoring and understanding these new commuting patterns and their long-term impact. Transit service delivery, taxation policies , amenities and land use planning, pro-remote work legislation, infrastructure investments, ‘workcation’ tourism promotion – there’s plenty of public policy impacts and opportunities that stem from this new workforce reality. This then falls on governments to develop plans to observe and adapt as the re-distribution of their citizens’ live-work-play patterns evolves.

The Toronto Region’s global competitors for tech talent have already begun to strategize how to leverage remote work trends to improve their FDI attractiveness, and are channeling that energy toward reducing regional economic disparities. For example, Ireland is calling on its regions to introduce ‘bespoke offerings’ to encourage remote and hybrid working arrangements and distribute talent away from central Dublin. Of note, in each of the last two years, approximately 40 percent of jobs created by companies Toronto Global has worked with to expand into the region are located within the region’s 905 communities.

For the Toronto Region, where much of these changes are being most acutely felt, these new patterns of regional economies should trigger a rethink on regional strategies. For the many opportunities that remote work offers, it challenges the existing system that ties success and impact of investment attraction efforts to physical real estate footprints. To better understand these issues, there is a need for new or improved metrics, methods, and data to track the impact of remote work in the long term across the Toronto Region – something that can only be thoroughly achieved with intentional, regional effort.

While not all workers can or will adopt a semi-remote arrangement, the more options the Toronto Region can credibly offer employers, the greater its appeal to inbound investment. Those, like Ireland, who are quick to mobilize around this opportunity will enjoy a first mover advantage and lead the discovery of new best practices for regional development.

About FDI

There is a critical need for coordination across the Toronto Region to support and promote FDI and talent mobility on the global stage. Amenities, quality of life, broadband access, and regional transportation mobility will continue to be cornerstones of the FDI attraction toolkit. Yet, newly emerging remote work patterns call for a regional approach to understanding, monitoring, and guiding the impact of remote work for the long-term global competitiveness and resiliency of the Toronto Region.

Doubling Down on the Toronto Region’s Talent Advantage

Ellen Mitchell — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 22:58:00 +0000

Touted as North America’s fastest growing tech market, Toronto continues to attract talent innovative companies from around the globe. Over 81,000 new tech jobs were added to our region between 2016-2020, and there is no indication of that slowing down any time soon. Talent remains the primary factor impacting corporate strategy and is a key driver for location decision making. In the last two years, it has become evident that there is, in fact, a global war for expertise, with companies competing heavily for highly skilled people, especially when it comes to engineering and new technology.

Talent is one of the strongest assets that the Toronto Region has to offer (64 per cent of our population has a postsecondary degree — a higher percentage than any other country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)). Toronto Global is here to help new companies realize that expertise advantage. As we persevere through a global pandemic, our role as an organization is more important than ever. Attracting foreign companies into the Toronto Region ensures that we retain jobs in our community and continue to propel strong economic growth – all with the goal of building a region that is recognized internationally as the best place to live, work, and invest.

Toronto Global’s dedicated team will continue to promote the Toronto Region as the best choice for international business. In parallel, we must also focus on expertise; taking the lead when it comes to ensuring our region’s talent story is front and centre. Canada’s view on immigration remains aligned with globalization and economic sustainability, with nearly 100,000 new people settling in the Toronto Region every year.

Canada welcomes more than 250,000 international students every year. Nearly half of this student body resides in the province of Ontario and upon graduation, this group of international graduates chooses to start their career in Canada – a significant contributor to growing our expertise pipeline. In complement, as a province, we are home to 18 postsecondary institutions that are conducting innovative and ground-breaking work every day, with some of the best researchers in the world. As a region, we stand to compete with other global hubs like London, New York, and Silicon Valley. The goal to bring postsecondaries and foreign companies together will be an important new aspect of Toronto Global’s vision moving forward.

That is why we are thrilled to announce that we are doubling down on expertise. Our aim is to create and facilitate an environment necessary for connecting, attracting, and retaining talent in the Toronto Region. Fostering strategic connections between our organization and the world-renowned postsecondary institutions within our region, we will help to develop the regional talent story, while also ensuring Toronto Global becomes the go-to organization when it comes to talent. Three main pillars will help our clients access the talent they need to succeed:

Connect with postsecondary institutions and internationally recognized researchers

We pride ourselves on designing education programs that deliver job-ready graduates and excel in industry-academic partnerships.

Spark brand awareness and connect with students through Integrated Learning opportunities.

Partner on Research & Development projects.

Co-create learning and upskilling opportunities for students, helping to shape the graduates of tomorrow.

Recruit highly skilled labour

Hire recent graduates and experienced alumni.

Attend roundtable discussions with key players and keep up to date with the latest expertise trends.

Access our open immigration policies. With supportive policies to welcome students and skilled workers from around the world, companies in Canada can access talent that is multicultural, multilingual, and globally connected.

Activate your growth plans

Leverage our research and data, allowing you to select the best location to attract and retain top talent.

Engage our partner networks to enhance your brand, reputation, and ability to recruit top expertise.

Access funding programs to extend your capital runway while onboarding the top talent you need.

Realize the Talent Advantage of the Toronto Region

The entire Toronto Region has a strong expertise pipeline, both in terms of new graduates and experienced professionals. No matter the specialized skill, our diverse and dynamic region gives you exactly what you need to succeed. Whether you are looking to leverage the local talent pipeline, or bring in talent from outside the country, Toronto Global can help guide you through the process.

If you are looking to build or scale a team in the Toronto Region, contact:

Ellen Mitchell
Senior Advisor, Talent Partnerships
emitchell@torontoglobal.ca

Cimlogic is Driving World-Class Manufacturing… and Doing it Right Here in the Toronto Region

Erika Lewis — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 22:23:00 +0000

Cimlogic is a provider of Digital Manufacturing Solutions and Services, with the emphasis on solving business challenges through technology and services. The company uses its unique RAISE™ process to understand its clients’ business requirements, ensuring its solutions are designed to address these, while maximizing ROI and delivering real business value. It operates across the whole manufacturing supply chain, from Operational Technology (OT), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to Manufacturing Analytics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

U.K.-based Cimlogic offers complete manufacturing improvement solutions for businesses to improve efficiency and maximize productivity, with a goal of supporting its clients on their digital manufacturing journey. The company’s strong reputation for customer retention is earned through exceptional customer service, project delivery, and solutions that deliver on expectations and investment. It aspires to be an integral part of its clients’ continuous improvement journey, helping them engage with technology, whilst ensuring value is added at every step of the way.

Introduced to Toronto Global through the Trade Commissioner Service in London, U.K., Cimlogic was looking to expand its presence to provide better support to its existing clients in North America, as well as sought to work with new clients in the Food and Beverage, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Life Sciences sectors, among other innovative industries. Toronto Global assisted in it’s expansion process, providing data and information on the region’s manufacturing sectors, talent, and cost comparisons. Toronto Global made several introductions to service providers, including recruitment and law firms, banks, and real estate professionals, as well as provided advice on recruitment and talent acquisition.

In the Toronto Region, Cimlogic will deliver digital manufacturing solutions and services through MES, OT, Predictive Manufacturing, Manufacturing Analytics, and support services throughout the North American manufacturing market. It already has considerable international experience, with 400+ production system deployments across 18 countries, offering multi-language support across different time zones. This move highlights it’s commitment to supporting its manufacturing clients on a global scale.

The Toronto Region served as the ideal location for it to serve and support its existing clients. The region is also a leader in Food and Beverage, Life Sciences and Energy manufacturing, which presents huge opportunities for Cimlogic’s marketing activity and outreach. Most importantly, the region is rich in culture and innovation, and provides access to a diverse, educated and talented work force – all critical factors in the company’s decision-making process.

About Cimlogic

“Cimlogic is delighted to expand our services to this market and we look forward to helping more manufacturers become digital factories of the future! It’s primary focus is to establish long-term trusted partnerships with our clients and provide maximum business value, and this expansion will enable it to excel at this, whilst strengthening our position as experts in the field of Digital Manufacturing.”

Richard Stone, Managing Director at Cimlogic

How Proterra’s Electric Buses are Picking Up Speed in the Toronto RegionProterraHow Proterra’s Electric Buses are Picking Up Speed in the Toronto Region

Michael Keoshkerian — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 20:03:00 +0000

We’re excited to share our next entry in our blog series on EVs and public transit, in the form of a question and answer from one of the top electric vehicle bus manufacturers in North America, Proterra, Inc.

Proterra is one of several companies engaged with the TTC on a public transit pilot project, and embodies the scale of opportunity within the Toronto Region and Canada in terms of electric vehicles and public transit. We’ve greatly enjoyed supporting Proterra’s efforts in the Toronto Region, and John Walsh, Senior Vice President at Proterra kindly took the time to share his thoughts – enjoy!

From a market perspective, over the past couple years the momentum on electric buses seems to be gaining speed, with an increasing number of North American transit agencies running pilot projects and putting electric buses into service. Why do you think electric buses are having a moment and gaining traction in public transit systems in the U.S. and Canada?

New technology is making the promise of fully-electric fleets a reality. Today, transitioning to clean transportation is no longer just the right thing to do for our health and environment, it’s also the smart thing to do for our communities.

Every time a Proterra battery- electric bus with zero tailpipe emissions replaces a diesel bus, 230,000 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided along with other emissions known to harm human health. Battery-electric buses offer a greater total cost of ownership, the lowest operating costs, and the least cost volatility when compared to internal combustion engines.

Take Edmonton as an example. This summer, Proterra along with our partners Edmonton Transit Service, or ETS, unveiled the first 21 Proterra battery-electric buses, one of the largest purchases of electric buses in Canadian history. It represented the first deployment to implement in-depot overhead charging in North America, along with having the most energy storage on any 40-foot electric bus. The ETS deployment showcases just how we can successfully implement an electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure for current fleet needs, as well as plan for expansion in the near future.

We are excited to partner with leading transit agencies from Edmonton to Toronto to accelerate the transition to 100 percent clean transportation for all.

Aside from electric buses, we know that a great deal of infrastructure that supports these vehicles needs to be modified and in many cases, built entirely new. What do you see as critical pieces of technology and infrastructure that accompany electric buses?

As more cities, states, schools, airports, and private commercial operators move to zero-emission transportation, reliable, affordable high-power charging infrastructure is critical to help power our electric vehicle fleets of tomorrow. That’s why at Proterra, we’re investing in charging infrastructure and energy fleet solutions today that play such a critical role in achieving these important electrification goals.

Proterra recently introduced our next generation charging infrastructure solution, providing transit agencies’ fleet operators with a comprehensive set of charging solutions they need to scale their fleets of electric vehicles. For large fleets of vehicles, where customers need to address the challenge of charging dozens or hundreds of vehicles in a single fleet yard, our new charging systems can be configured with up to 1.5 megawatts to power up to 20 vehicles simultaneously.

Fleet electrification is a complex challenge for many transit agencies. We’ve built a team of experts dedicated to taking customers through the process of installing charging infrastructure and working with their local utility, with extensive experience building our charging system for electric vehicle fleets. Proterra ensures that the infrastructure installation plans also take into consideration the need to serve a growing electric bus fleet, in order to reduce the future cost of charging infrastructure as the customer scales their zero-emission fleet. Demand charges for power consumption from utilities can also cause a customer’s electricity bill to increase significantly. Proterra works with the customer’s utility to get the best rates for the customer, and more utilities are introducing special rates specifically to eliminate demand charges for EV fleets.

Through next-generation charging infrastructure smart energy management, we can flatten the demand curve for customers and help communities in Canada and across North America power 100 percent clean transportation fleets.

Looking north to the Toronto Region, being one of the largest metro regions in North America, public transit is critical to our continued growth. How do you see the public transit infrastructure in Toronto and other Canadian urban centres, and the opportunities for Proterra and other international electric bus companies to further engage in this market?

Canada is a leading example of the transition to 100 percent clean transportation. Proterra is proud to support the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), which maintains the largest fleet of electric buses in North America. Building on the innovative spirit and leadership of agencies like TTC, Canada is aiming to retain 5,000 battery-electric buses over the next five years and have all new buses by electric by 2040; and cities like Montreal and Vancouver are aiming to achieve 100 percent zero-emission transportation fleets by 2040 and 2050, respectively.

Just a few short years ago, the question many were asking was whether the transit market will even move toward electrification. That question has been answered. The transition is underway.

Proterra’s battery and bus manufacturing is currently focused in the United States. With your growing international ambitions, what elements do you envision as essential to support Proterra’s future production needs (i.e. skilled workforce, resilient supply chain, proximity to strategic transit markets)?

What started a decade ago with the delivery of the first Proterra battery-electric transit buses has grown into a new-era for zero-emission transportation as communities switch to 100 percent clean, zero-emission fleets. Canada is poised to be a global leader in this emerging market, bringing the next wave of transit innovation directly to communities. At Proterra, we look forward to delivering clean, quiet transportation to communities across the country.

As large transit agencies like the Toronto Transit Commission scale their electric bus fleets, do you see advanced technologies supporting the deployment, operation, and lifecycle of such a large number of vehicles (i.e. autonomous / connected tech, new software opportunities, different vehicle models, and battery recycling)?

Building battery-electric vehicles is hard work. With more than 500 Proterra vehicles on the road and 16 million miles driven by our fleet of buses, we’ve come a long way in our journey to provide clean, quiet transportation for all.

We’ve also gained valuable insights along the way and we’re applying these learnings to better serve our customers today and tomorrow. This includes introducing new products to help our customers meet their current needs and plan for the future.

In September, Proterra launched our newest (and fifth-generation) battery-electric transit bus, which was built from the ground-up to be electric and informed by our learnings from the past decade of deliveries. Designed for full-fleet electrification, the Proterra ZX5 battery-electric transit bus offers unmatched drive range, faster acceleration and greater horsepower, and industry-leading hill-climbing abilities to tackle steep terrain.

About Proterra’s Electric Buses

Successfully transitioning to 100 percent battery-electric buses and commercial fleets also requires a safe, reliable, and high-performing battery. That’s why we’re introducing new battery packs featuring next-generation battery cell technology, which will improve on Proterra’s industry-leading energy systems with greater energy storage capacity and higher power density to enable increased range and faster charge times. Since 2016, the Proterra and LG engineering teams have been collaborating to maximize cell performance to meet the stringent requirements of commercial vehicle markets. Proterra’s new battery-electric transit vehicle, the Proterra ZX5, can now be equipped with 675 kWh of energy, the most energy storage of any 40-foot electric bus available in the market today.

Thank you, John for the conversation! We look forward to following Proterra’s continued growth in Canada!

Stay tuned for more conversations on this topic and opportunities to invest and expand your business within the Toronto Region.