General Motors confirmed on January 29, 2026, that it will end the third shift at Oshawa Assembly on February 2, returning the plant to two shifts and laying off about 500 employees. Unifor, which represents the plant’s hourly workers, says more than 700 direct jobs will be lost, with total losses across the supply chain reaching up to 1,200.
Two numbers for the same blow
The gap between the company’s figure and the union’s ran through every account of the decision. GM said about 500 employees at the Oshawa complex, which builds light- and heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks on the same line, will be placed on layoff when the third shift ends. Unifor put direct losses at more than 700 jobs, with hundreds more at supplier companies expected to finish their final shifts on Friday, January 30 — up to 1,200 workers in all across the auto supply chain.
GM said affected hourly employees will receive separation packages and retirement options, including Supplemental Unemployment Benefits that, combined with Employment Insurance, equal 70 per cent of regular weekly earnings, along with continued health benefits, outplacement services and counselling.
Tariffs, or a temporary shift ending?
The two sides also disagree on why. Unifor national president Lana Payne accused the company of shifting production to the United States after Washington imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian-built vehicles. “General Motors has made a clear decision to cave to Donald Trump rather than stand up for its loyal Canadian workforce, making the workers in Oshawa pay for that appeasement with their jobs,” Payne said. The union noted GM publicly ramped up Silverado production in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before confirming the Oshawa decision, and that the company rejected a union proposal to keep the third shift running until contract negotiations begin in the fall of 2026.
GM spokesperson Jennifer Wright said the change is not linked to U.S. tariffs. The third shift, the company said, was a temporary measure added to meet post-pandemic pickup demand and replenish low inventories, and it was always due to wind down. Wright pointed to the plant’s longer runway: “Oshawa has a very long runway ahead, supported by a $280 million investment to build the next generation of gas-powered trucks.” The commitment is part of more than $2.6 billion GM says it has invested in Canadian manufacturing over the past five years.
A cut announced, delayed, then made
The decision had been coming for months. GM first announced the shift reduction in May 2025, then, under union pressure, delayed it in September — pushing the end of the third shift to at least January 30, 2026. That delay is now over. The final third shift was scheduled for Friday, January 30, with the plant moving to two shifts on February 2.
The timing sharpened the union’s criticism: the cuts were confirmed the same week GM reported more than $12 billion in pre-tax earnings for 2025, alongside higher dividends and a $6 billion share buyback. “It is misguided for General Motors to think it can get away with consistently diminishing their production footprint in Canada and still be the number one seller of vehicles in the Canadian marketplace,” Payne said. “Even in a brutal trade war auto companies can make different decisions.”
Oshawa is not alone. Unifor pointed to GM’s CAMI plant in Ingersoll and the Stellantis plant in Brampton, both idled without a known product allocation, as evidence of a sector-wide squeeze. The union’s demand heading into this fall’s bargaining and the federal government’s auto policy debate is summed up in its campaign line: sell here, build here.
