Article content

TORONTO — Canada’s largest private sector union is condemning a federal agency for lending roughly $526 million to Volkswagen to expand its operations in the U.S. and Mexico.

Unifor issued a statement Friday saying it’s “absolutely incredible” that Export Development Canada is helping facilitate the migration of the auto industry to Mexico.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Union condemns federal agency for lending Volkswagen $526 million to expand operations in U.S. and Mexico Back to video

Unifor president Jerry Dias says there is no guarantee that the loan will benefit Canada.

In a statement earlier this week, EDC said the financing to the German automaker is designed to create opportunities for qualified small and medium-sized Canadian companies to win new business with the global automotive giant.

But Dias says there are no requirements for Volkswagen to buy anything from Canadian auto parts firms.

Dias is calling for Industry Minister James Moore to review EDC’s actions and to prohibit future loans to automakers in other countries.