Celebrating 120 Years of Ford in Canada
On Aug. 17, 1904, Henry Ford and Gordon McGregor ink a deal that makes McGregor’s Walkerville Wagon Works (in what is now Windsor, Ontario) a producer of automobiles in Canada. The Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited began with 17 employees and built 117 cars in its first 12 months, including the Ford Model C (the first vehicle built) and the Ford Model B. The car that will put the nation on wheels, the Ford Model T, follows a few years later, rolling out the doors in Walkerville for the first time in 1908. In 1942, the last civilian Ford is built in Windsor as the company will dedicate its considerable resources to winning WWII; post-war production begins in 1946. The new Oakville plant in Ontario begins production in 1953 and the year following sees the last passenger car assembled in Windsor. That plant will be refitted to produce a new overhead valve V-8 engine.
Fast-forward to today – Canada powers some of the company’s most iconic vehicles, building engines in Windsor for the Ford Mustang, Ford F-150 and Ford Super Duty; our teams in Ottawa, Waterloo, and Oakville help deliver in-demand in-vehicle digital experiences; and starting in 2026, Oakville Assembly Complex begins producing one of the company’s most popular and profitable vehicles – Ford F-Series Super Duty.
