700 jobs in Oshawa are safe, for few more months. All of this uncertainty is tied to the tariff war in the automotive sector imposed by the Trump administration.
700 jobs are preserved
This plant produces the Chevrolet Silverado HD
In 2023 GM invest 280 million in the plant
General Motors has pushed back plans to scale down operations at its Oshawa Assembly Plant, keeping the facility on three shifts until January 2026. The move delays significant layoffs at the Ontario factory, which builds Chevrolet Silverado pickups.
Unifor Local 222, the union representing roughly 3,000 workers at the plant east of Toronto, confirmed on September 9 that the third shift will remain until January 30, 2026. That extension preserves about 700 jobs into the new year.
The union has opposed the planned shift cut since May, when GM first announced it would wind down to two shifts in the third quarter of 2025. In a memo shared on social media, Local 222 accused the automaker of making the decision based not on production challenges but on “dirty politics from the U.S.”
Chevrolet Silverado HD Oshawa Assembly plant (Source: GM Canada)GM Canada acknowledged the temporary extension, citing near-term pickup demand.
“At that time, the plant will return to a two-shift operation and continue preparations to build the next generation of full-size, gas-powered pickups,” GM spokesperson Ariane Souza Pereira said in an email. She explained that the extra shift was maintained to cover short-term “production needs” for light-duty models.
The company had previously pointed to “forecasted demand and the evolving trade environment” as reasons for the cutback. The timing coincided with escalating trade tensions between Ottawa and Washington, when both governments imposed 25 per cent tariffs on cross-border vehicle imports.
In 2024, General Motors produced roughly 151,000 vehicles in Canada, underscoring the automaker’s ongoing commitment to domestic manufacturing. That commitment was reinforced in 2023, when GM announced a C$280-million investment at its Oshawa Assembly Plant to modernize the facility and prepare it for production of the next generation of full-size internal combustion engine pickups. The move followed an earlier C$1.6-billion injection into the Oshawa site in 2020, cementing the plant’s role as a cornerstone of GM’s Canadian operations.
