Fact File: Video spreads fake story about John Deere exiting Canada

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Rumours that farming equipment giant John Deere is leaving Canada spread this week on social media alongside a video claiming the company would be moving its factories to the United States.

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In fact, John Deere hasn’t manufactured farm equipment in Canada since 2009 and the company says the claims in the video are false. The video comes from a YouTube channel that appears to use artificial intelligence to produce spam news content.

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THE CLAIM

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“John Deere didn’t quietly cut production. They packed up the future of Canadian manufacturing and moved it straight into the United States,” said the narrator in a 17-minute-long video posted to YouTube, where it reached more than 200,000 views in two days.

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The video, titled “Canada ERUPTS as John Deere CUTS OFF Production – Carney EXPLODES As Factory Moves To U.S!,” links the supposed exit to policy decisions by the federal government and the trade war with the United States.

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The video was reposted to the X platform, formerly Twitter, TikTok and Facebook, and the claim was spread without the video on X and Facebook.

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THE FACTS

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The claims in the video are false, a representative from John Deere told The Canadian Press in an email.

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The company based in Moline, Ill., has a handful of parts distribution centres in Canada and a forestry equipment factory in Langley, B.C. Its farming equipment manufacturing plant in Welland, Ont., ceased operations in 2009. A Nisku, Alta., remanufacturing facility, which refurbished previously used or worn out parts, was shut down in 2021.

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The video includes clips from news broadcasts that have been misleadingly edited to make it seem as if the segments are about Canada.

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The first clip comes from “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” and features Paikin saying, “But recent plant closures and competitive challenges abroad have led to speculation that the sector could soon be faced with the end of the road.”

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There is no date given for the clip, but the show aired its final episode on TVO in June. There is nothing to indicate Paikin was discussing agricultural equipment manufacturing and The Canadian Press could not find any recent segments from the show on the subject.

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The next two clips are of news reports from Iowa and Arkansas about John Deere layoffs and struggles faced by farmers in those states. The agriculture economy in the United States has struggled over the past two years and the company has laid off thousands of workers and moved some operations to Mexico in response, prompting tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Most of the news clips included in the video are from reports out of the United States. There are sources listed in the bottom left corner of the video, but the content of the clips is never addressed by the narration.

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The video uses half-truths to bolster its arguments.

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For example, the narrator says, “Ottawa thought they were protecting farmers by pushing repair rights. Deere saw it as a government attacking their entire business model.” Canada passed two right-to-repair laws in November 2024, making it easier for people to fix products like cellphones, fridges and farm equipment. But that was years after the company stopped manufacturing in Canada, and Deere had previously expanded access to self-repair tools for customers in Canada.