Is pending closure of GM Oshawa Plant collateral damage from the USMCA?

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York U business and trade expert available for comment

TORONTO, November 26, 2018 – After news this morning that General Motors Ltd.would cease production at its Oshawa plant as of December 2019, the plant’s more than 2,500 workers walked off the job. According to GM, the restructuring move is part of its broader changes across North America that will see other assembly plants in Detroit and Ohio also impacted.

The plant, which has been part of Ontario’s manufacturing industry since as early as 1953, is a key part of Canada’s auto industry. GM says the move is in response to its goal of producing more purely electric cars and developing technology for autonomous vehicles.

Bernie Wolf, Professor Emeritus of Economics and International Business, Director of the Certificate in International Trade and Investment at the Schulich School of Business, is available for interviews. His research has focused on dealing with the rapid changes in manufacturing, especially in the motor vehicle industry globally.

He can comment on:

  • The closing of four plants in North America, including Oshawa, and the elimination of 15 per cent of its salaried employees
  • The move to produce more electric cars and the development of technology for autonomous vehicles
  • The economic implications locally, for Ontario and Canada
  • How the new USMCA (United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement) plays a role in decisions like this

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Media Contact: Anjum Nayyar, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543, anayyar@yorku.ca