Joly's Office Denies Meeting Roshel Before Stellantis Brampton Plant Sale

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's office said she did not meet with Roshel before Stellantis agreed to sell its Brampton, Ont. assembly plant to the defence contractor, disputing reports that Ottawa helped negotiate the sale. Mathis Denis, a spokesperson for Joly's office, said Wednesday evening that reporting Joly "was involved in the deal is false," according to Local Breaking.

Joly's Office Disputes Roshel Negotiation Reports

Denis said the minister took part in discussions between Stellantis and Unifor, which represents more than 9,000 Canadian workers for the automaker, to find a way forward after Stellantis decided to move production earmarked for Brampton to the United States. He said that move, announced in October 2025, violated Stellantis' commitments tied to a federal commitment of up to $529 million through the Strategic Response Fund. "The minister had no part in negotiating with Stellantis or Roshel on the deal," Denis said. "The minister was in a conflict resolution (role) between Stellantis and the union. That's it. The minister didn't meet Roshel."

Denis said the minister, the department and the team would not have approved a deal that did not honour the SRF commitment or lacked the union's approval. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that selling the Brampton plant "violates the obligations that Stellantis has under several agreements" and called the move "unacceptable." CTV News reported Tuesday, citing three unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the talks, that Ottawa was actively and intensively part of the discussions between Stellantis and Roshel. Stellantis announced the sale of the facility and associated equipment to Roshel for an undisclosed amount late Monday afternoon, and the companies expect the transaction to close by the end of this year, subject to government and regulatory requirements.

Roshel's Defence Manufacturing Expansion

Roshel, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Brampton, makes smart armored vehicles for government, defense, commercial security and law enforcement customers, according to akta.pro company records. The same records list a 2026 acquisition of International Motors' Springfield plant for production of commercial, special and armored vehicles, expanding North American manufacturing capacity beyond Brampton. The records also list an April 2026 joint venture with Algoma Steel, Roshel Algoma Defence Solutions Inc., to establish a Canadian Centre of Excellence for Ballistic Steel Production in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, supporting over 500 workers.

Earlier Signals on the Brampton Sale

Unifor said in early November 2026 that it believed Stellantis had finalized the sale of the Brampton plant to Roshel, though the automaker declined to confirm, The Globe and Mail reported. Unifor members had voted 97.3% in favor of a strike at Stellantis Canada plants, with Brampton Assembly facing closure and sale to Roshel, Yahoo reported in November 2026. In September 2026, Stellantis signed a memorandum with Roshel to sell the idle Brampton plant, Investing.com reported.

Joly's Thursday Meeting in Toronto

Joly is set to convene a meeting Thursday in Toronto with the leadership of Stellantis and Unifor, along with Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli. Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov has said his company is willing to hire back some of the 2,000 Stellantis employees laid off from the plant when it halted operations in 2023.