Building a Future in Canada, for Canada
By Kristian Aquilina, President and Managing Director, GM Canada
2025-05-02
For over a century, Canadians have supported General Motors as their automaker. Our roots go back to 1908, when Colonel Sam McLaughlin—one of Canada’s original auto pioneers—founded General Motors of Canada in Oshawa, Ontario. Since then, we’ve been designing, engineering, and building vehicles right here at home, earning a deep legacy of trust and shared prosperity.
Today, GM Canada is firmly embedded in the economic fabric of this country. We employ thousands of Canadians across three state-of-the-art manufacturing plants, a multi-campus engineering and software hub, parts distribution centres, and the country’s largest automotive dealer network. With nearly 450 dealerships employing more than 20,000 Canadians, our presence touches nearly every region and community in the country.
GM Canada proudly leads the Canadian auto industry in vehicle sales—a clear reflection of the trust Canadians place in our products and the positive impact we make nationwide. This support from our customers has allowed us to reinvest—committing more than $2.6 billion to our Canadian operations since 2020. These investments support good jobs, cutting-edge technologies, and long-term competitiveness.
Today, shifting trade policies, changing market dynamics, and growing global competition present new realities. We must adapt—and we are.
For GM, this means building more in Canada, for Canada. As part of this strategic realignment, we are adjusting truck production at Oshawa Assembly to better reflect Canadian market demand, returning the plant to its original two-shift model. While this decision will affect approximately 700 valued employees, thousands of team members will remain in place to support a more sustainable and efficient operation. We are committed to supporting those impacted—with compassion, transparency, and meaningful assistance.
These decisions are never easy, but they are necessary to preserve and strengthen Canada’s auto manufacturing base for the long term.
Today, GM Canada embodies the transformation underway in our industry. From EVs and software innovation to smart manufacturing and clean energy supply chains, we are at the centre of change. And everyone—workers, Unifor, dealers, suppliers, and governments—has a role to play in shaping that future.
We believe in Canada. And we believe a strong, competitive, and sustainable Canadian auto sector is an investment that benefits everyone. Above all, we remain grateful to the millions of Canadians who continue to choose GM. We will keep earning that trust—by building the future right here at home.