On hand at the unveiling in Montreal on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the project will help build the economy of the future.

"This is a historic and transformative announcement," the prime minister told an audience that included Northvolt executives and politicians representing all levels of government. "Northvolt's investment will bring end-to-end battery manufacturing to Canada, making our country one of only a few locations to have this capacity outside of Asia."

The 170-hectare site straddles two communities about 30 kilometres east of Montreal — McMasterville and St-Basile-le-Grand — and will have initial capacity to produce about 30 gigawatt hours of annual cell manufacturing when it goes into production in 2026, enough to power one million vehicles a year. Northvolt says it plans to eventually double that capacity.