Canada’s SNC-Lavalin has won a C$141m initial works contract to prepare for a C$1.2bn cathode-active-material (CAM) plant in Bécancour, Québec that will produce components for Ford electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

SNC-Lavalin said it was its “first major mandate” in the Canadian EV battery market.

It was hired by Korean CAM producer EcoProBM, which on 17 August announced a joint venture with Ford and battery maker SK On to set up the CAM plant in the Bécancour Industrial Park between Quebec City and Montreal.

The Bécanour plant will be EcoProBM’s first factory in North America and its second overseas, after starting to build one in Hungary this year.

Ford Canada chief executive Bev Goodman said the idea for the plant was to create “a vertically integrated, closed-loop battery manufacturing supply chain in North America designed to help make electric vehicles more accessible for millions of people over time”.

CAM makes up about 40% of an EV battery’s cost. The plant’s investors expect it to start producing in April 2026. It will have a production capacity of 45,000 tonnes a year.

SNC-Lavalin will provide EcoProBM with initial concept design, basic design, and project management and delivery related to the establishment of the plant.

Ford said it would cover 280,000 sq m in area, and will include a six-floor building.