GM eliminating more than 700 jobs at Oshawa assembly plant

General Motors is eliminating more than 700 jobs at its Oshawa Assembly Complex, with hundreds more expected to be lost across the supply chain, Unifor said in a Jan. 29 release.

The Oshawa plant assembles light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks. After the United States imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian-built vehicles, GM increased Silverado production in Fort Wayne, Ind., before announcing the elimination of the third shift in Oshawa.

Unifor said it presented GM with a plan to maintain the third shift until contract negotiations begin in the fall of 2026, but the company rejected the proposal.

“Even in a brutal trade war, auto companies can make different decisions,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Decisions that respect the contributions and skilled work of Canadian autoworkers. Decisions that show Canadian consumers that these automakers actually care about the market they sell into, by stepping up to protect Canadian jobs and building here.”

The Oshawa layoffs mark the latest setback for Ontario’s auto sector, with GM’s CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll and Stellantis’s Brampton Assembly Plant both currently idled without confirmed future product allocations. Unifor reiterated its call for federal auto policy to prioritize domestic production under the principle of “sell here, build here.”

“General Motors has made a clear decision to cave to Donald Trump rather than stand up for its loyal Canadian workforce, making the workers in Oshawa pay for that appeasement with their jobs,” said Payne. “It is misguided for General Motors to think it can get away with consistently diminishing their production footprint in Canada and still be the number one seller of vehicles in the Canadian marketplace. GM’s decision is not only short sighted but fails to recognize the mood of Canadians and Canadian workers.”