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Hourly labour costs at Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. F-N manufacturing operations are about $16 (U.S.) higher than similar costs at U.S. plants, sources close to the negotiations between the auto maker and the Canadian Auto Workers union said Friday.

Ford's labour costs in Canada are higher than those anywhere else in the world, the sources said, meaning it's difficult to make new investment commitments for its operations, such as the new products the CAW is seeking for a plant in St. Thomas, Ont., that is at the top of the endangered list.

“The hyper-competitive nature of this business globally means you just cannot be the highest-cost labour jurisdiction on the planet and expect those kinds of guarantees,” one source familiar with the discussions said.

Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor Co. group vice-president of global manufacturing and labour affairs told analysts this week that Ford's U.S. labour costs are roughly $52 an hour.

That's roughly in line with what Chrysler Group and General Motors Co. GM-N are facing at their U.S. plants, Mr. Hinrichs said and close to the approximately $50 an hour at plants run by Japan-based manufacturers at older plants in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

Labour costs at newer plants in the U.S. South are considerably lower than $50, he said.

CAW economist Jim Stanford said he's not surprised by the $16 an hour figure, which is based on the Canadian dollar trading at a level of 86 cents.

“Certainly in light of the contract changes [at UAW plants] and in light of the Canadian dollar's rise, Canada right now is a relatively expensive place to manufacture,” Mr. Stanford acknowledged.

He noted, however that Ford has announced investments in India and China in recent weeks and in Mexico earlier this year.

“That's where the actual competition is for new capital and it wouldn't matter what we did, we'd be more expensive than those locations,” he said.

The CAW and Ford Canada are still negotiating, but have reached a stalemate on the issue of a manufacturing footprint in Canada.

The CAW is insisting that Ford Canada maintain 13 per cent of its North American production here. The potential closing of the St. Thomas plant and major cuts to an engine plant in Windsor, Ont., would cut the size of the auto maker's Canadian manufacturing operations to about 9 per cent of its North American total, the union has said.

The union said that it granted concessions on benefits, time off and other issues to Chrysler Canada Inc. and General Motors of Canada Ltd. in return for a commitment on a Canadian manufacturing footprint.

But sources said Ford rejects the idea that such commitments are part of the traditional pattern agreement in which a contract reached with one company serves as a template for the unionized manufacturers.

“The future footprint commitments with GM and Chrysler are part of the loan terms and conditions with the federal governments and it's not part of the master collective agreement at all,” one source said.

But the union recently negotiated a new agreement with Cami Automotive Inc., a joint-venture between GM and Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd. that included guarantees of new products at that plant in Ingersoll, Ont., beyond 2014.

Ford has not asked for or received any money from the federal or Ontario governments.