OSHAWA, Ont. — General Motors is winding down production at its Oshawa assembly plant as an era of vehicle production comes to a close for the Ontario city.
Some of the roughly 2,600 direct employees at the plant are expected to produce the final vehicles today, though the company cautions that the exact timeline could still shift.
GM announced in November of last year that it would effectively shut down the plant along with four others in the U.S. as part of a wider restructuring.
In May, the company committed $170 million to convert the plant to a stamping and sub-assembly operation and keep about 300 jobs, as well as convert part of the complex into an advanced technology test track.
The end of production will have a ripple effect among the many workers and suppliers who rely on the plant, as well as the wider community.
GM started producing cars in the city in 1918 and opened the Oshawa assembly plant in 1953. At its peak in the 1980s it employed some 23,000 people and could produce as many as 730,000 cars and trucks a year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2019.