At 11 p.m. in Oshawa, seven hundred people used to clock in to build Chevrolet Silverados through the night. The third shift was a point of pride: proof the plant was running flat out, proof the integration with American supply chains still worked. In January 2026, General Motors killed it. US tariffs, the company said. Going forward, Oshawa would produce for the Canadian domestic market only. A fraction of its former output.
Oshawa was not alone.
Built on Integration, Broken by Tariffs
Ontario’s auto sector was, for decades, one of the most productive manufacturing clusters in North America. 160,000 workers directly at peak in the early 2000s, another 300,000 in parts and supporting industries. Canada produced roughly 3 million vehicles per year, the vast majority in Ontario, making it the fourth-largest auto-producing jurisdiction in the world. That peak was two decades ago. Automation, Mexico, the 2008 crash, shifting consumer preferences: each took a piece. By 2019, direct auto assembly employment had fallen below 45,000. The sector still contributes roughly $14 billion annually to provincial GDP, but in towns like Oshawa and Windsor, the numbers on a spreadsheet don’t capture it. The assembly plant isn’t just the biggest employer. It’s the economy.
Now tariffs are hitting a sector already mid-transition. Billions in EV investment commitments? Frozen or redirected.
Plant by Plant
At GM’s CAMI factory in Ingersoll, which builds the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric delivery van and EV battery modules, the company announced a closure from May through October. 500 of 1,300 hourly jobs eliminated permanently. A nearby supplier, TFT, told 245 of its 873 hourly workers they were being terminated.
CAMI is the auto crisis in miniature. The BrightDrop van was supposed to be GM’s flagship Canadian EV product, the proof that Ontario could pivot to electric. Soft demand for commercial EVs, combined with tariff uncertainty on cross-border shipments, made the business case untenable. So much for the pivot.
Stellantis temporarily paused operations at its Windsor assembly plant on April 7, idling roughly 4,500 workers. Flavio Volpe, CEO of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, estimated that an additional 12,000 Canadian auto parts workers were “off the job” as a consequence of Stellantis’s production halt alone. Twelve thousand, from one plant’s pause.
In Brampton, 3,000 Stellantis workers have been on layoff since the last Dodge muscle car rolled off the line in late 2023. A retooling plan was paused in February amid head-office turmoil at Stellantis NV, and about 400 tradespeople rebuilding the assembly line were sent home. Ford’s Oakville assembly plant, already shuttered for an EV retooling that began in spring 2024, saw its original electric vehicle production plan scrapped entirely. Ford executives transferred projected Oakville EV production to the United States. The new plan: gas-powered Super Duty pickup production starting mid-2026, workforce of just 1,800, down from over 3,000.
The Supply Chain Multiplier
Ontario Auto Sector Layoffs and Disruptions
Plus 12,000+ auto parts workers off the job (APMA estimate)
Auto assembly is the visible part. Behind each plant sits a network of parts manufacturers, logistics companies, and service providers. The industry’s integrated cross-border supply chain means parts often cross the US-Canada border multiple times before final assembly, and each crossing now incurs tariff costs that compound through production.
CUSMA, which replaced NAFTA in 2020, was supposed to settle all this. Automakers spent billions restructuring supply chains to comply with the new 75% North American content requirement (up from 62.5% under NAFTA). Now US tariffs are layered on top of it anyway.
That’s the part that makes the whole exercise feel like a con.
148,300 people employed in Ontario’s motor vehicle, body, trailer, and parts manufacturing sector as of 2024. That number is going down.
What Unifor Is Saying
Unifor, the union representing most of Canada’s auto assembly workers, has called it the worst crisis since 2008. National president Lana Payne has pushed for emergency federal and provincial intervention: wage subsidies to keep workers attached to employers during production pauses, expedited retraining funding, a “Buy Canadian” procurement strategy for government fleet vehicles.
Nobody has said where the money comes from.
At the local level, Unifor Local 222 in Oshawa has warned that the GM shift reduction could become permanent if tariffs persist. In Windsor, Local 444 has raised concerns about the mental health toll on workers facing prolonged uncertainty. Families can’t plan around rolling layoff notices.
What Happens When the Plant Goes Quiet
Oshawa already knows what comes next. When GM closed the plant in 2019 (later reversed), home values dropped, small businesses shuttered, and the city’s tax base eroded. Less severe this time. Same direction.
Windsor is worse. The city’s unemployment rate has always tracked auto production almost perfectly, and the Stellantis pause plus supplier layoffs have pushed it above the provincial average. Food banks are reporting increased demand.
That’s how fast it moves from trade policy to someone’s kitchen table.
Retraining and Transition Programs
On paper, the safety net exists: the Skills Development Fund, Second Career, EI, the Canada Training Credit. In practice? Long wait times for retraining approval, programs that don’t match local job openings, and EI payments that don’t cover a mortgage. Premier Ford has pointed to billions earmarked for retraining and floated the idea of military vehicle manufacturing to keep plants running. The province has also engaged with South Korea and other countries about attracting new auto investment.
Medium-term possibilities, all of them. Not immediate relief for workers receiving layoff notices right now.
Canada’s Countermoves
Canada and South Korea signed an agreement to explore bringing Korean auto manufacturing to Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney also negotiated a deal with China allowing 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada per year at a lower tariff rate (good luck explaining that one on a factory floor in Oshawa). And Premier Ford said the province is putting billions into retraining programs.
None of it moves fast enough to matter right now. For workers in Oshawa, Windsor, Ingersoll, and Oakville, tariffs stopped being a policy debate the moment the shift ended early.
Sources and verification: GM Oshawa shift elimination and 700 layoffs confirmed by GM statements and CBC News reporting, January 2026. The CAMI Ingersoll closure (May-October) and 500 job cuts are from GM announcements. Stellantis Windsor’s April 7 pause and 4,500 idled workers are from media reports; the 12,000 parts worker figure is from APMA CEO Flavio Volpe’s public statements. Stellantis Brampton layoff details are from CBC and Globe and Mail reporting. Ford Oakville’s retooling plan change is from Ford Motor Company statements. Historical peak auto employment figures (160,000 direct, 3 million vehicles) are from Industry Canada and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association. The 148,300 employment figure is from the Government of Canada Job Bank. CUSMA content requirements (75% vs. 62.5% under NAFTA) are from the USMCA agreement text. Unifor statements are from union press releases and media interviews. Canada-South Korea and Canada-China auto agreements are from federal government announcements.
Track how Ontario MPPs are responding to the auto crisis at Ontario Pulse.