The Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade successfully bid for the first multibillion-dollar overseas gigafactory of Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, and its subsidiary PowerCo.

The electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility will be built in St. Thomas, Ontario, with production planned for 2027.

Aird & Berlis advised the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade with a team led by Paige Backman, which included David Takenaka, Lynn Tay, Ian McLeod and Portia Biswas (Corporate), Leo Longo (Municipal and Land Use Planning), Ron Clark, Ken Clark and Cathy Jares (Energy), Tom Halinski (Property Tax), Leonard Baranek, Kenneth Pimentel and Ethan Eisen (Real Estate), Angelo Gentile and Louise Summerhill (HST), Aaron Collins, Jill Fraser and Jonathan Yantzi (Financial Services), Paula Boutis (Environmental), Heidi Visser, Douglas Younger, Ryan Chalmers and Paul Jachymek (Infrastructure), Norman Kahn (Foreign Investment), Brendan O’Callaghan (Expropriation), as well as Julie Brennan and Jasraj Shergill (Articling Students).