Ford’s new three-year Canadian auto contract is now in force, turning a July ratification vote into binding terms for thousands of workers across Ontario and Alberta. Effective September 21, 2026, the agreement between Ford of Canada and Unifor delivers three annual 3% wage increases, renewed cost-of-living protection, bonuses, pension and benefit improvements, and a series of job-security provisions. It also carries C$1.25 billion, or about US$900 million, in planned Canadian manufacturing investment over the life of the deal, split between engine operations in the Windsor-Essex region and the Oakville Assembly Complex. For workers who have spent the past several years navigating retooling, layoffs and a volatile North American auto market, the contract’s significance goes well beyond the headline wage number.
The Agreement Is Now Officially in Force
The agreement replaces the 2023 Ford-Unifor contract and runs from September 21, 2026, through September 19, 2029. It covers 5,150 Unifor members at Ford facilities in Canada, including Oakville Assembly, Windsor-area engine operations, parts distribution centres in Paris and Casselman, Ontario, and Leduc, Alberta, along with represented office and technical employees. The deal was ratified on July 19 after members covered by the Master Agreement voted 74% in favour. Salaried bargaining units at Locals 240 and 1324 reported support of 97% and 100%, respectively.
That timeline matters because Ford and Unifor completed the core bargaining process well before the previous agreement expired on September 20. Negotiations opened June 22, a tentative settlement was reached July 11, and ratification followed eight days later. For a worker heading into a plant or distribution centre this week, the change is no longer a future promise: the new wage schedule, income-security rules, pension improvements and job-protection language are now the governing terms of employment.
Three 3% Raises Create a Clear Wage Path
The wage package is built around three general increases of 3%, one in each contract year. Before the first increase, the agreement folds C$1.42 in accumulated cost-of-living allowance into the base wage. Unifor’s bargaining report illustrates the effect for a full-rate production employee: a base rate of C$44.52 rises to C$45.94 after the COLA fold-in, then to C$47.32 after the first 3% increase. The illustrative full-rate skilled-trades wage moves from C$55.97 to C$57.39 after the fold-in and then to C$59.11 after the first raise.
The next 3% adjustments are scheduled for September 20, 2027, and September 18, 2028. By the third year, the illustrative top rate reaches C$50.20 an hour for production employees and C$62.71 for skilled trades, excluding the forecast value of future COLA adjustments. Actual rates vary by classification, but the structure gives workers a predictable base-wage path while retaining a separate mechanism designed to respond to inflation.
COLA and Wage Progression Add Another Layer
The agreement does more than add fixed percentage increases. It renews the cost-of-living allowance system and provides eight quarterly COLA adjustments over the contract, beginning with the pay period starting September 6, 2027. The bargaining report says the COLA mechanism remains capped at C$2 an hour. That means the 3% annual increases establish the base path, while COLA can add further protection if consumer prices move higher. For households dealing with food, housing, transportation and borrowing costs, that distinction can matter more than a single headline percentage.
Newer employees also receive changes to the wage-progression grid. Workers with less than four years of seniority receive a share of the C$1.42 COLA fold-in, all three general wage increases and an additional two-percentage-point lift at each progression step. Full rate is still reached after completing four years. Temporary part-time wages are scheduled to rise from C$31.16 to C$34.07 in the first year, then C$35.09 and C$36.14 in the next two years.
Bonuses Put Significant Cash Into the First Year
The contract also front-loads cash through lump-sum payments. Unifor’s ratification materials provide for a C$10,000 Productivity and Quality bonus for eligible employees, excluding temporary part-time workers, with eligibility extending to certain inactive employees who performed work for Ford during the specified 2026 period. A separate one-time C$2,000 December payment is scheduled for eligible active and inactive employees hired before the agreement’s effective date who worked for the company in 2026. Together, the union’s illustrative materials value those two first-year payments at C$12,000 for an eligible worker.
Oakville workers facing indefinite layoff received special treatment. Employees who were on indefinite layoff after ratification and would otherwise miss the Productivity and Quality bonus were made eligible for a C$10,000 special payment. Temporary part-time employees on the active roll after ratification were assigned a separate C$2,000 Productivity and Quality bonus. Those provisions make the deal unusually relevant to workers whose employment status has been disrupted by Oakville’s long retooling period.
The US$900 Million Investment Is Split Between Two Manufacturing Hubs
The investment commitment attached to the contract is C$1.25 billion, which Ford presented as approximately US$900 million, across its Canadian manufacturing operations over the three-year term. The largest share is C$700 million, or US$500 million, for Essex Engine Plant and related Windsor-area operations. The remaining C$550 million, or about US$400 million, is tied to Oakville Assembly Complex. Ford says the Essex money is additional spending aimed at expanding engine capacity, while the Oakville amount had already been planned to support Super Duty production.
That distinction is important when interpreting the headline. The US$900 million figure is a package of planned investment across the contract period, not necessarily US$900 million of entirely new, previously unannounced spending. Even so, putting the commitments into the labour agreement gives the investment figures direct relevance to product allocation and job security. For autoworkers, tooling and product commitments often matter as much as wage rates because they determine whether plants have work to perform years into the future.
Windsor and Essex Get the Larger Share of the Spending
Windsor and Essex receive the larger portion of the newly announced plant spending. The contract commits US$500 million over its life to facility and tooling investments intended to maximize 5.0-litre engine and machining capacity at Essex Engine Plant. It also provides for continued 7.3-litre engine production through the agreement. The bargaining report says the 6.8-litre engine was scheduled to balance out at Windsor Engine Plant in the third quarter of 2026, while Essex is expected to continue producing the 5.0-litre and 7.3-litre engines.
The agreement also points to a possible expansion in employment. Based on forecast market demand, an additional engine-assembly shift is forecast for 2029. That language is conditional rather than a guarantee: demand must support the extra shift, and the agreement contemplates outside sourcing if demand exceeds Essex’s maximum capacity. Still, Ford committed that Essex would remain the lead producer for the 5.0-litre program if such sourcing becomes necessary, giving the Windsor-area operation an important role in Ford’s North American powertrain network.
Oakville’s Super Duty Transformation Remains Central
Oakville receives US$400 million in planned spending over the life of the agreement to support Super Duty production, but that figure sits inside a much larger transformation of the assembly complex. Ford said in July that the contract-related spending builds on roughly C$5 billion already committed to transform Oakville into a Super Duty plant and add the company’s first Canadian stamping operation. The shift makes the plant central to Ford’s heavy-duty pickup strategy after years in which Oakville workers faced uncertainty during a major product and technology transition.
Public support is also substantial. Federal records show a C$464.5 million contribution agreement for the Oakville project, with the work phase scheduled through the end of 2029. The government says the refurbished complex is intended to support annual production of up to 100,000 F-Series Super Duty trucks and approximately 1,800 jobs. For the surrounding community, the project is therefore not only about a new model on an assembly line; it is tied to a much broader supplier, skilled-trades and local-spending ecosystem.
A Full-Employment Pathway Targets Oakville Layoffs
The contract’s job-security language is especially significant for Oakville, where retooling left many members on indefinite layoff. Ford renewed a moratorium on the sale or closure of Unifor-represented facilities during the agreement. At Oakville, it also agreed to a pathway toward what Unifor calls “full employment.” Eligible production employees can be offered a one-time C$50,000 retirement incentive, followed if necessary by separation payments to non-retirement-eligible employees, with each departure intended to enable the recall of one laid-off member.
The program is planned to be completed by July 1, 2027, subject to operating requirements. Income Maintenance Plan benefits for laid-off Oakville members are extended until recall or that July 1 date, whichever comes first, at the employee’s hourly rate at the time of layoff. Short Work Week benefit eligibility also drops from three years of seniority to one. Those provisions give the agreement a second layer beyond pay: they are designed to bridge workers through production changes rather than leaving retooling risk entirely on individual households.
Pensions, Retiree Payments and Benefits Also Improve
Retirement security and benefits form another substantial part of the settlement. Effective January 1, 2027, the Legacy Defined Benefit plan increases the monthly basic benefit by C$3 across pension classes and raises the special allowance by C$150. The Hybrid plan’s defined-benefit portion gets a C$1.50 increase in the monthly basic benefit and a C$75 increase in the special allowance, while company contribution rates to the defined-contribution portion rise by C$0.05 an hour. The agreement also removes the 2,080-hour annual contribution cap for members in CAAT DBplus.
Retirees receive a C$50-per-quarter increase to the Universal Healthcare Allowance, with quarterly payments set at C$250, C$200 or C$175 depending on retirement date. Surviving spouses become eligible for two-thirds of the applicable payment. Benefit changes also include higher limits in areas such as orthodontics, laser eye surgery and occupational therapy for children. Taken together with wage, investment and job-security provisions, those changes show why the contract is broader than a simple 3% raise announcement.
