The Canadian auto industry is witnessing a resurgence as it shifts from manufacturing gas-powered vehicles to those that run on batteries, but some are sounding the alarm about protecting local jobs.

Southern Ontario has become a hub for foreign auto manufacturers that have invested tens of billions of dollars since 2020 to build electric vehicle battery factories, with help from the federal government in the form of tax breaks and subsidies.

While the federal and provincial governments support this growing industry, union leaders, conservatives, and the New Democratic Party are demanding guarantees from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that he will ensure jobs go to Canadians.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Building Trades Union called on Trudeau to intervene at the NextStar battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, owned by Stellantis and LG Energy Solution.

The union stated that Canadians are being sidelined in favor of temporary foreign workers.

It added in a letter to Trudeau that 180 skilled workers in the area are still unemployed despite their availability to perform the work assigned to newcomers instead of them.

The letter dated April 10 stated that it is "a brazen displacement of workers, by major international companies that mock the Government of Canada and our taxpayers and skilled workers."

Both NextStar Energy and the federal government said that foreign workers represent only 72 jobs at the plant, and specialized equipment is being installed, which Canadians will then be trained to use.

However, union executive Sean Strickland said these are tasks that Canadian workers can actually handle.

Strickland explained in a statement: "We have 1,600 Canadian workers at the job site today, and we hope to maintain this situation through the next phase of this project, where the work will shift to equipment installation."

"We are still able to provide the skilled labor necessary to perform this work."

On Thursday, Trudeau was in Alliston, Ontario, to announce the latest multi-billion dollar investment in electric vehicles.

Honda is set to build a battery plant next to its assembly plant, which it is retrofitting to produce fully electric cars as part of a $15 billion project.

Trudeau avoided answering whether the deal with Honda includes explicit protections for Canadian workers.

He stated, "In fact, the investments we are making, whether with NextStar, or here with Honda Motor Co., are about creating great job opportunities for Canadian workers, and that’s what is actually on offer."

The company says that 1,000 new jobs will be added to the project.

But at this stage, there are no guarantees that current Honda workers in the community will be able to transition to the new jobs, according to the national president of Canada's main auto workers' union.

Lana Payne said, "We just need to ensure that we are protecting workers in any way possible."

Payne added that when an auto manufacturer shifts its existing operations to an electric vehicle plant, it can affect up to 30 percent of jobs in assembly plants and the auto parts sector, which is why it is important for governments to secure the impact on current workplaces.

Unifor has urged the federal and provincial governments to include worker protections in their contracts with automakers that ensure income security, job security, and the right to form a union.

Honda currently employs more than 4,000 people in Alliston. They are not unionized, but workers have had discussions about joining Unifor.

Payne said, "For workers who do not have union benefits, it is extremely important that the government ensures those workers are protected during the transition period and works with employers to make sure they receive those guarantees, especially when government investments are being made."

Conservatives have called for the federal government to disclose contracts it has made with automakers, stating that Trudeau cannot be trusted to protect Canadian jobs.

Sebastian Skamski, spokesperson for opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, said in a statement: "We've seen before where Justin Trudeau announced huge subsidies that were supposed to create Canadian jobs, only to turn around and allow those jobs to be filled by alternative foreign workers and then lied about it."

"We cannot trust that his recent announcement allocating $5 billion of Canadian taxpayers' money to another large multinational company will be any different."

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh also urged the Liberal government to stop writing "blank checks" without strict guarantees for unionized workers.

Singh said, "There should be guarantees built into any public dollar we spend, and they should be tied to jobs and investments that benefit Canadians."

"We shouldn't be giving a blank check to a company and saying we hope to employ Canadians."