GM investing $280 million in Oshawa plant to produce ‘Next Generation’ trucks
Published June 7, 2023 at 8:02 am
Electric may be the future but the here and now is still gasoline-powered vehicles and General Motors is ensuring Oshawa will continue to get a large slice of that market with Tuesday’s announcement of a $280 million investment in Oshawa Assembly to produce the next-generation internal combustion engine full-size trucks.
“We are excited to announce additional investment for our Oshawa plant to support production of the next-generation of full-size pickups,” said Marissa West, president and managing director of GM Canada. “Oshawa Assembly plays a critical role in meeting customer demand for GM’s popular full-size trucks, helping GM lead the Canadian industry in heavy-duty truck sales in 2022 and take an early lead in total truck sales for 2023. Today, we are proud to say we will continue to build pickups with Oshawa pride for years to come.”
The investment builds on GM’s recent commitment to Oshawa, which is now at nearly $1.5 billion since the plant was unceremoniously shut down un 2019, throwing 2,800 people out of work. A year later the company invested $1.2 billion in the plant, leading to one of the fastest plant launches in GM history when the company re-opened Oshawa Assembly in December 2021.
Since the re-opening General Motors has created 2,600 new manufacturing jobs, and thousands of indirect jobs at Canadian suppliers. Production has increased to three shifts, and fifty per cent of new production hires at the Oshawa plant are women.
“What this investment will do is significant for workers and families across Oshawa and Durham Region,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “By building the next generation of truck products thousands of jobs and the plant’s footprint will be secured for years to come. Continuing to invest in Oshawa autoworkers makes sense now and in the future. The skills, hard work, and dedication of Unifor autoworkers are what fuels Canada’s economic engine and builds world-class vehicles used every day all over the world.”
Since 2020, GM has made significant investments in Canadian manufacturing, research and development and the electric vehicle supply chain, including:
Videos
- August 2020: St. Catharines Propulsion Plant opens Canada’s first cogeneration plant using renewable landfill gas to generate electricity and heat for the facility, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent.
- November 2020: GM announced plans to invest in Oshawa Assembly for full-size truck production, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant to support production of Corvette transmissions, and Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre to support customer service and after-
- February 2021: GM announced the opening of its new Canadian Technical Centre McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track in Oshawa to support engineering development and testing of advanced software and technologies. The division now employs more than 1,300 engineers and software developers across four locations in Ontario.
- March 2022: GM and POSCO Chemical announced a C$500 million facility in Bécancour, Québec to produce cathode active material for GM’s Ultium batteries.
- April 2022: GM, with representatives from the Governments of Canada and Ontario, confirmed that the restart of Oshawa operations would create 2,600 new jobs and that CAMI Assembly would begin BrightDrop Zevo electric vehicle production by the end of year.
- November 2022: GM announced a long-term supply agreement with Vale Canada, for battery grade nickel sulfate from Vale’s proposed plant also at Bécancour, Québec. The amount of contained nickel will be sufficient to supply approximately 350,000 EVs annually.
- December 2022: GM, with representatives from the Governments of Canada and Ontario, celebrated the launch of BrightDrop production at CAMI Assembly, making the London, Ontario facility Canada’s first full-scale EV plant.
- February 2023: GM announced plans to invest in St. Catharines Propulsion Plant, subject to completing support agreements with federal and Ontario government partners, plant to manufacture new Ultium electric drive units. This would support around 500 jobs at the St. Catharines facility and enable the production of more than 400,000 EV drive units a year.
- June 2023: GM announced a $280 million investment in Oshawa Assembly to support the production of the next-generation internal combustion engine full-size trucks.
Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter said he was “thrilled” with GM’s funding announcement, noting the investment “further solidify Oshawa’s footprint in the transformed automotive industry of the future” and ensure that GM manufacturing operations and
“We thank GM Canada for continuing to invest in Oshawa’s productive, innovative and high-quality workforce. GM’s historic investments will secure 2,600 good paying local jobs,” Carter said. “We are proud that Oshawa-made products are supporting GM’s transition to an electric, autonomous and highly connected future, with sales that are setting industry records. We look forward to continuing Oshawa’s long-standing tradition of automotive innovation and global leadership in advanced manufacturing.
The company has not announced what models will be coming to Oshawa, which currently produces Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty and Light Duty models.
