Oshawa, Ontario — June 5, 2014 — General Motors of Canada Limited today announced that it will adopt the same compensation program for Canadians who have lost loved ones or who have suffered serious physical injuries as the result of an ignition switch failure in recently recalled vehicles, as was announced today by GM Company in the United States.
“We are taking responsibility for what has happened by taking steps to treat these victims and their families with compassion, decency and fairness,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “We made serious mistakes in the past and as a result we’re making significant changes in our company to ensure they never happen again.â€
“On behalf of the employees of GM of Canada, we express our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families,†said Kevin Williams, president and managing director, GM Canada. “By adopting the compensation program in Canada, we’re ensuring that Canadians are treated with compassion, decency and fairness.â€
The program will be independently administered by Kenneth Feinberg, who is highly regarded for his handling of other significant compensation programs.
The program is expected to cover approximately 1.6 million model-year 2003 to 2007 recalled vehicles manufactured with an ignition switch defect and approximately 1 million model-year 2008 to 2011 recalled vehicles that may have been repaired with a recalled ignition switch, including Canadian recalled vehicles.
Pending the independent administrator’s development of final guidelines for the compensation program, GM currently expects the program will begin to accept claims on August 1, 2014. It is GM’s understanding that the administrator’s final compensation program guidelines will be developed in the coming weeks, and will include details on where and how to apply for compensation.
