Ontario’s auto sector is mid-conversion. The manufacturing infrastructure that spent four decades producing internal combustion vehicles is being retooled, rebuilt, and in some cases replaced to produce battery electric vehicles and the battery systems that power them. The Stellantis NextStar Energy battery plant in Windsor — a $5 billion joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, the largest EV battery manufacturing investment in Canadian history — is in production and hiring. Honda has announced conversion of its Alliston assembly plant for Canadian EV production. Toyota’s Cambridge facility already produces the hybrid RAV4 and is expanding its electric powertrain content. These are not future investments. They are active facilities with engineering positions open now.
The engineers who work at the intersection of battery chemistry, manufacturing systems, and trade compliance are among the most sought-after in Canadian industry. The relevant NOC codes are 2133 (electrical and electronics engineers) and 2132 (mechanical engineers). The distinction in practice is one of orientation: electrical engineers tend toward battery cell selection, pack architecture, thermal management, and battery management system calibration; mechanical engineers tend toward manufacturing process validation, tooling, and plant-level production engineering. Both disciplines are needed at every major OEM conversion.
What the work involves
Battery systems engineering in a manufacturing context is broader than it sounds on paper. At the cell and pack design level, it involves selecting cell chemistries, specifying pack architecture, designing thermal management systems that keep lithium-ion cells within operating temperature limits under charge and discharge cycles, and calibrating battery management systems that monitor cell-level state of charge and health. At the production engineering level, it involves validating that manufacturing processes — electrode coating, cell assembly, module welding, pack integration — produce product within cell-level specification tolerances at industrial scale. Defects in battery manufacturing carry different consequences than defects in conventional engine components, and the quality engineering discipline reflects that.
There is also a trade compliance dimension to this work that engineers in most other manufacturing disciplines do not encounter. CUSMA’s rules of origin for electric vehicles require that a specified proportion of battery component value originate from North American or FTA partner countries for the finished vehicle to qualify for tariff-free US market access. An engineer who understands battery pack architecture also needs to understand how sourcing decisions for cells, cathode materials, and anode materials affect regional value content calculations. For the Stellantis NextStar operation in Windsor — where battery modules are destined for Stellantis vehicles sold across North America — that compliance dimension is a direct operating constraint, not an abstract policy question. The CUSMA manufacturing review tracks how the ongoing rules-of-origin negotiation affects Canadian battery producers.
Training
The University of Waterloo has built the strongest battery engineering research and graduate training cluster in Canada, with active research programmes in solid-state batteries, electrode materials, and battery management systems. The Waterloo co-operative education programme places students directly into OEM and Tier 1 battery supplier roles during their degree, which remains the fastest route into named employers in the Ontario EV ecosystem. McMaster University in Hamilton offers materials engineering programmes closely tied to the advanced materials and steel sectors that supply battery production, with graduate-level research in battery electrochemistry. Conestoga College in Kitchener-Waterloo offers an electromechanical engineering technology diploma for those focused on manufacturing process roles rather than battery systems design — a faster path, typically two years, oriented toward production floor engineering rather than R&D.
NGen — Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing supercluster — has funded multiple EV battery manufacturing projects since 2019, co-investing alongside federal and provincial governments in cell manufacturing, battery pack assembly, and battery materials processing. The NGen portfolio is a reliable indicator of where federal and Ontario industrial policy is committing capital, and it points consistently toward Windsor and the broader Ontario EV corridor.
What the work pays — NOC 2132 / 2133
| Level | Annual Salary Range | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (0–3 years) | $75,000–$88,000 | New grad or co-op graduate, OEM or Tier 1 process role |
| Intermediate (4–8 years) | $88,000–$105,000 | Battery systems lead, manufacturing process engineer |
| Senior (9+ years) | $105,000–$120,000 | Battery pack architect, senior production engineering lead |
| NextStar / JV premium | $100,000–$130,000 | Stellantis-LG JV benchmarks technology sector, not just automotive, norms |
Salary ranges for NOC 2132 and 2133 are drawn from Statistics Canada occupational wage data and employee-reported salaries on Indeed for Ontario auto and battery manufacturing employers. The Stellantis NextStar operation in Windsor, as a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, benchmarks compensation against both automotive and technology sector norms — which pushes the top of the range above historical Ontario automotive engineering levels.
Where the role is heading
The CUSMA review cycle creates ongoing uncertainty about battery content rules, and that uncertainty is itself a reason to understand the trade compliance framework. Engineers who can model how component sourcing changes affect regional value content calculations — and who can translate those analyses into procurement and supply chain decisions — are building a competency that most engineering programs do not teach and that every Canadian battery plant will need for the duration of the programme. The co-op route through Waterloo or McMaster remains the fastest legitimate path into a named employer in this field. For those already in automotive engineering and looking to transition, the cell chemistry and BMS specialization is the credential gap most hiring managers identify as the critical differentiator between an automotive mechanical engineer and a battery systems engineer.