Ontario, Canada Welcomes New Investment That Will Create Up To 300 New Jobs

Ontario's new clean energy economy has attracted a joint venture that will create up to 300 high-quality manufacturing jobs and up to 2,000 additional construction jobs while delivering over 200 megawatts of new solar generation - enough to power more than 25,000 homes.

Celestica Inc. and Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, have partnered to manufacture solar components at the Celestica facility in Toronto. These components will be used in new solar projects they will be building in the province.

Ontario's Energy Plan - Building Our Clean Energy Future - is getting Ontario off smog-producing coal and on to cleaner energy sources like wind, solar and bio-energy. The plan is making Ontario a global clean energy leader and has sparked a new industry in the province making it a clean energy leader on a global scale. New businesses and partnerships are supplying Ontario projects, and selling their high quality products across North America and to the world.

Ontario's new clean energy industry is attracting investment to the province from companies like Celestica and Recurrent. This is part of the province's Open Ontario Plan to build a clean energy economy that creates jobs and protects the environment.

"Ontario congratulates Celestica and Recurrent on this exciting initiative. This is another great example of how Ontario is showing the world that we are open to innovative, high value renewable energy projects," said Hon. Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy.

"Celestica and Recurrent are valued contributors to Ontario's economy. We look to innovative firms like these to power our economy into the future and create the jobs that our making our families strong today and tomorrow," said Hon. Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West.

"Celestica is pleased to deliver innovative supply chain solutions to the solar market to meet the demand for new energy-generation alternatives and enable a strong solar industry in Ontario. We look forward to working with Recurrent in this emerging marketplace," said Mike Andrade, Senior Vice President, Americas, Celestica.

"The economic policy leadership in Ontario makes it an attractive market for renewable energy investment, and is a foundation for this agreement between Recurrent Energy and Celestica," said Sheldon Kimber, Senior Vice President, Development, Recurrent Energy.

Quick Facts:

• Ontario has already attracted more than $16 billion in private sector investment in the clean energy sector, and over 20 companies have announced plans to set up or expand operations in Ontario.

• In 2003, Ontario had 19 polluting coal units and no solar projects online. Today more than 2,900 solar projects are feeding electricity into Ontario's grid, eight coal units have already been shut down and by 2014 all coal units will be closed.

• Ontario's long term energy plan forecasts 10,700 MW of renewable energy - wind, solar and biomass - by 2018. This is equivalent to meeting the annual electricity requirements of two million homes.