About 10 companies interested in Wilmot land, says Minister of Economic Investment

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Investment, Job Creation and Trade says a number of companies have shown interest in a tract of land the Region of Waterloo is trying to assemble in Wilmot Township.

In March, Wilmot land owners say they were approached by regional representatives who were looking to buy land for large-scale investments that have not been made public. The land being considered is located between Nafziger Road, Bleams Road and Wilmot Centre Road.

A map shows the land the Region of Waterloo wants to buy. (Graphic by Hayden Phillips/CTV Kitchener)

“I have understood that since all of this discussion has become public, there’s about ten prospects that the region or the municipality or the township has discovered from people contacting them for their site,” Minister Victor Fedeli said in an interview Friday.

“I think that’s a really great opportunity. When you have a manufacturing linchpin in a community, that’s how hospitals and schools and roads and infrastructure – that’s how it gets built.”

The minister said the Wilmot location would be a great spot for a battery plant or a variety of other builds, but said it wouldn’t be suitable for a very specific portion of the province’s recent Honda EV deal.

“There will be four sites around Ontario. I was asked yesterday if one of the sites is Wilmot, and the answer is no,” Fedeli said.

“The sites that are outside of Ontario are for a cathode plant. A cathode is not only a large consumer of water, but needs running water to be able to discharge so I said [Wilmot] simply would not qualify for that type of factory. I think they’re a great spot, by the way, for a battery plant. I would hope that they assemble their land so that we can get one. To the best of my knowledge, we don’t have a prospect for Wilmot at the moment.”

CTV News reached out to the Region of Waterloo for an update on the land assembly project, but staff deferred to Fedeli’s comments.

Arjo, Jake and Adam Van Bergeijk represent three generations of dairy farmers who would be affected if the Wilmot land assembly project goes ahead. (CTV News/Stefanie Davis)

Farmers in the area say they still haven’t received any update on what will happen to their land. It’s been two months since they were first approached. Landowners and farmers who have spoken with CTV News say they’re not interested in selling their land.

“We’ve tried several times to talk, to ask [the region] for clarity and transparency, and so far we’ve had no luck with them on that,” farmer Arjo Van Bergeijk said in an interview on Thursday.