GM To Reduce Shifts At Canada’s Oshawa Assembly Plant Citing Evolving Trade Environment: Retail Stays Extremely Bullish

General Motors (GM) will reduce shifts at its Oshawa Assembly Plant in Canada to two from three owing to shifting trade policies, the company said on Friday.

GM said in a statement that the decision is based on forecasted demand and the “evolving trade environment.”

“These changes will help support a sustainable manufacturing footprint as GM reorients the Oshawa plant to build more trucks in Canada for Canadian customers,” the company said while adding that it will work with its partners to support employees through the transition.

The automaker said that the move is expected to affect approximately 700 employees.

In early April, Trump’s 25% tariffs on vehicles imported into the U.S. came into effect, forcing automakers to recalibrate production.

The Oshawa Plant assembles light and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado pick-up trucks for the North American market. These vehicles are also assembled at factories in the United States and Mexico.

Canadian union Unifor called for “swift action” following the announcement. Unifor National President Lana Payne called upon the automaker to reverse the move, which it termed as ‘short-sighted.’

“We will not allow GM to barter Canadian jobs to gain Donald Trump’s favour. Cutting the third shift at Oshawa Assembly is a reckless decision that deals a direct blow to our members and threatens to ripple through the entire auto parts supplier network,” Payne said.

"GM's move is premature and disrespectful — jumping the gun before Prime Minister Carney and President Trump even begin their talks on a new economic deal.”

Unifor stated that GM intends to reduce Oshawa truck exports to the U.S. and recalibrate the plant for Canadian sales, starting in the fall.

The union further alleged that GM has announced actions over the past three weeks that will result in the permanent layoff of nearly 30% of its Canadian hourly workforce.

“Cutting jobs now has consequences. The company has six months to fix this,” Payne warned.

Unifor added that it will seek clarification from the automaker at an upcoming meeting on any potential impacts on the St. Catharines Powertrain Plant, which supplies engines to Oshawa.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GM remained unmoved within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume remained at ‘extremely high’ levels.

GM stock has been down by over 12% this year but has been up over 1% over the past 12 months.

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