Quebec government rescinds investment into Northvolt EV factory

There will no longer be a Northvolt-branded EV battery factory in Quebec as the provincial government pulls the plug on its investments after the company failed to present an adequate business plan.

On Tuesday, Christine Frécette, Ministre de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie, announced that Quebec is ending its funding agreement with Northvolvot since the conduct couldn’t present a plan that lived up to the province’s expectations. Leading out of this, Quebec is using a clause in the agreement to recover as much of the investment as possible.

Aujourd’hui, je mets fin au financement de Northvolt au Québec.

L’entreprise ne nous a pas présenté de plan satisfaisant à l’égard des intérêts des Québécois. Nous faisons aujourd’hui valoir nos droits afin de récupérer le maximum de notre investissement.

Cette aventure s’est…

— Christine Fréchette (@CFrechette) September 2, 2025

Northvolt announced that it would be building a plant in Saint-Basile-Le-Grand and McMasterville in 2023, but since then, the Swedish arm of the company has claimed bankruptcy. The province invested a total of $510 million into the project and has lost $270 million while still hoping to recover $240 million.

Quebec’s public fund manager also invested a separate $200 million into Northvolt, which was lost when the Swedish arm declared bankruptcy. It’s worth noting that Northvolt North America has told CBC News that its company’s American arm isn’t bankrupt and claims to have substantial resources to continue backing the Quebec project. In late November of 2024, Fréchette also told the public that there was nothing to worry about with the Northvolt bankruptcy overseas.

To leave the public with a bit of a silver lining, Frécette said that this doesn’t mark the end of battery investments in Quebec. She says that nearly 3,000 people are currently working to build other battery-related facilities. Most of this seems targeted at the battery hub being built in Bécancour, Que. That said, she hasn’t clarified how many projects are still running, especially since things have been pretty tricky with Lion Electric over the past year as well. 

That said, the province still has a strong mining corridor, and if it can finally play some of its cards right, it still seems primed to be a major player in the future of battery production.

Image credit: Nothvolt 

Source: The Government of Quebec