Oshawa, Ontario – Last year it was announced that the GM plant in Oshawa was to be shut down putting nearly 3,000 people out of work. Now almost exactly a year later, the plant is getting revamped and re-staffed thanks to a surge in demand for pickup trucks.
“The unique thing that’s happened in the industry that we didn’t know a couple of years ago is that the industry has continued to grow, even through COVID-19,” said Scott Bell, President of General Motors Canada. “Trucks are representing more of the industry this year than they ever have.”
Earlier this month GM union workers came to an agreement on a deal that will see between $1-1.3 billion invested into Oshawa along with 1,400-1,700 hourly workers expected to be hired. After the deal was announced, Jerry Dias, Unifor national president, said that he never gave up hope on convincing GM to revive the Oshawa plant.
Bell said that despite the recent Unifor deal with Ford Motors, which will see millions in funding from the federal and provincial governments, GM was still discussing financial support with the Ontario government. He also mentioned that funding from the government would help GM to quicken the hiring process, but noted that the current construction in Oshawa is already one of the fastest facility transformations in GM history.
GM will continue to recruit heavily from the universities and start-ups in the GTA as it moves towards EVs and self-driving cars and trucks, said Bell. Having also announced recently, separate from Unifor, the hiring of 3,000 tech workers across North America, including some in Ontario, Bell said that Canada is the second-largest hotspot for GM engineering staff.
The recent investments in the Canadian automotive industry come as auto workers have grappled with keeping local production afloat amid competition from the Southern U.S. and Mexico. A report from TD last week noted that the U.S. and Canada have fallen behind in embracing electric vehicles, amongst a lack of government subsidies, a lack of charging infrastructure and limited model selection.
“History has shown that Canadian’s decision to purchase an EV remains heavily dependent on the available government subsidies,” wrote Thomas Feltmate, TD senior economist, adding: “The combined investments (by automakers) on both sides of the border will go a long way in improving not only North America’s competitiveness with producing electric vehicles but also the components.”
According to Bell, the U.S. presidential election has the potential to bring agreeable policies across North America, which is a good sign for GM’s urge for greener EVs. Mary Barra, GM CEO said last week that the company has plans to introduce 30 electric vehicles around the world by 2025, with more than 20 of those models being available in North America.
“From the North American perspective, that’s an influx of dollars into the Canadian economy based on our commitment,” Bell said. “We’re going to work hard to get the general public out there driving electric vehicles here.”
