Members ratified the agreement 74% as Ford pledged $1.25 billion across its Canadian plants
Ford Motor Company of Canada will lift pension benefit rates and expand health coverage under a three-year contract that Unifor members ratified on Sunday.
The retirement and benefits gains sit among the deal's terms.
The defined benefit pension monthly basic benefit rate rises by $3, BNN Bloomberg reported, while benefit allowances increase for psychological services, orthodontics and vision care, according to details Unifor published.
Ford will also offer one-time $50,000 retirement incentives to as many as 127 eligible members at its Windsor operations and parts distribution centres, CBC News reported.
Members covered by the master agreement voted 74 percent in favour, Unifor said, while salaried bargaining units at Locals 240 and 1324 backed the deal 97 percent and 100 percent respectively.
The contract covers more than 5,000 workers, takes effect September 21 and runs until 2029, The Canadian Press reported.
Workers will receive general wage increases of 9 percent over the life of the agreement, or three percent a year, alongside a renewed cost-of-living allowance.
Eligible full-time permanent employees get a $10,000 ratification bonus and temporary employees receive $2,000.
Ford announced $1.25bn in planned spending across its Canadian operations.
That figure includes an added $700m to maximize 5.0-litre engine production at the Essex Engine Plant, with a third shift forecast for 2029, and to expand 7.3-litre engine output in Essex.
A previously planned $550m at the Oakville Assembly Complex accounts for the balance.
On job security, the contract renews a moratorium on the sale or closure of any Unifor-represented facility during its term.
Unifor and Ford also agreed to a program giving laid-off workers at the Oakville assembly plant a pathway to full employment by July 2027, The Canadian Press reported.
"Our members have ratified a strong agreement that delivers real gains and much needed stability despite unprecedented challenges facing Canadian autoworkers and the entire industry," Unifor National President Lana Payne said in the release.
In a separate interview, Payne told The Canadian Press the terms would rank as strong in good times, but "these are anything but good or normal times right now."
Ford Master Bargaining Chairperson John D'Agnolo said the investments and the Oakville return-to-work plan leave "our members at Ford are in a solid position now and over the next three years," according to BNN Bloomberg.
The talks unfolded against US tariffs, the Trump administration's decision not to extend the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada, pressures the union has cited, The Canadian Press reported.
Ford CEO Jim Farley linked the company's standing to trade policy, saying a revised USMCA is "critical to fending off the cost and currency advantages enjoyed by imported vehicles from Korea and Japan."
Payne said the Ford deal sets a pattern for coming negotiations with Stellantis and General Motors, though she expects tougher talks because both companies' Canadian assembly plants, at Brampton and Ingersoll, sit idle with thousands laid off, The Canadian Press reported.
"The difference is that they have taken decisions that were different than Ford Motor Co. throughout the last 18 months," she said, referring to the period since auto tariffs took hold.
The union represents nearly 19,000 Canadian auto workers and plans to name its next bargaining target this week.
