General Motors announced last May that 750 workers would be laid off at its Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario as the company braced for the impact of US tariffs announced earlier that year.
The Detroit automaker planned to move from a three-shift to a two-shift starting in the fall of 2025.
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor — which represents workers at the manufacturing facility — called the move a “reckless decision that deals a direct blow to our members and threatens to ripple through the entire auto parts supplier network.”
Besides 750 workers in the Oshawa plant, another 1,500 people would be affected throughout the supply chain.
In September, the layoff procedure was delayed until January, as the company saw high demand for the light-duty Chevrolet Silverado pick-up.
The model is produced across the US, Mexico and Canada.
Now, the company has confirmed its plans to dismiss these workers on January 30, as first reported by Automotive News.
GM Canada spokesperson Ariane Souza Pereira told the media outlet that the plant will revert to two shifts and prepare to “build the next generation of full-sized pickups.”
Both “GM and Unifor have worked closely to support employees during this transition through comprehensive separation packages, retirement support, and other benefits,” the representative said.
US Tariffs to Blame
GM was impacted by global tensions last April over the 25% US tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts.
The company builds 30% of its vehicles sold in the US in Canada and Mexico.
In Canada, this includes engine production in St. Catharines, pickup assembly in Oshawa, and BrightDrop electric delivery van production at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll — all located in Ontario.
Last year, GM‘s Mary Barra revealed the company was halting “BrightDrop production at CAMI Assembly.”
While assessing the site for future opportunities,” the CEO added it was “not a decision we made lightly” due to the impact on employees.
Unifor blames these layoffs on US tariffs, which can reach 50% on Canadian-manufactured vehicles that don’t qualify for duty-free trade under the USMCA.
The union’s Local 222 President Jeff Gray highlighted that Oshawa is “losing 50,000 light duties per year, while the Fort Wayne plant in Indiana is “gaining 50,000.”
“It looks pretty obvious to us why they’re moving the truck,” he stated.
While GM did not directly attribute the decision to tariffs, when announcing the planned shift reduction in Oshawa in May, the company cited “forecasted demand and the evolving trade environment” as the reasons for the move.
The automaker has been working towards mitigating the tariff impact on its business over the past few quarters, predicting an additional $3.5 billion headwind from these trade policy changes in 2026.
Gray said Local 222 will wait for additional support from Ottawa as the trade situation continues to unfold.
“The world can change on a dime right about now. You never know what’s going to happen with Donald Trump,” the representative said. “Auto’s gone through ebbs and flows before, where we’ve been down for a while, we come back. And we have to find our way through this one too.”
Canadian Gov. Measures
Last October, the Government of Canada announced reductions to the annual remission quotas on imported vehicles for Detroit automakers GM and Stellantis.
“This action follows the automakers’ unacceptable decisions to scale back their manufacturing presence in Canada, directly breaching their commitments to the country and Canadian workers,” the Government stated.
Following GM’s decision to reduce production at its Oshawa and Ingersoll facilities, the company was subjected to a 24.2% reduction.
China-Canada Deal
Late last year, Mark Carney’s government also announced a one‑year pause on its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) incentives program while it reviewed the policy framework, affecting mostly the auto sector.
The plan required automakers to reach 20% of zero-emission vehicle sales by 2026, progressing towards 100% in 2035.
However, the country’s progress toward electrification could now be accelerated, as the Prime Minister announced last week that a deal has been signed with China allowing the annual import of 49,000 Chinese EVs at a reduced tariff of just 6.1%.
The deal has been criticized by several politicians in both the US and Canada, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who warned the deal could jeopardize Canada’s trade relationship with the US, its largest export market for vehicles.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said last week that Canada’s 50% tariff rate is “the second-best deal in the world,” just after Mexico.
As renegotiations of the USMCA approach, Lutnick suggested the agreement itself could be in cause.
“When USMCA gets renegotiated… do you think the President of the United States is going to say, you should keep having the second-best deal in the world?” he said, before adding sarcastically, “I mean, you guys are such great friends.”
Speaking about the deal recently, Trump said “there’s no real advantage to it” and that “it’s irrelevant” for the US. On the other hand, he added that “Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it.”
