GM lays off hundreds, halts production at Canadian EV plant

General Motors announced on Friday that it’s halting production at the electric vehicle plant in Ingersoll, Ont., which started production in early 2023.

The plant makes Brightdrop delivery vehicles, and it appears that the tariffs might have little to do with this shutdown. GM instead cites low market demand and high available inventory. Hence, the plant plans to reopen at a smaller scale in the fall. A CBC News report claims that only 1,956 of the EVs have been sold across Canada and the U.S.

However, tariffs or not, this means that hundreds of workers will be laid off until the fall, and Unifor, the union representing the auto workers at this plant, says that when GM reopens in the fall, it will only be running a single shift which could see as many as 500 people laid off indefinitely.

This follows the news that Stellantis has also closed down its plant in Windsor, Ont., as it works to prepare for the unpredictable U.S. tariffs.

As we lead into the Canadian federal election, all three major party leaders have responded to the plant closure on social media. Pierre Pollieve, Mark Carney and Jagmeet Singh all share similar sentiments expressing displeasure with the plant closure.

However, all more or less link the closure to the ongoing tariff situation, instead of the fact that GM has just built an unpopular vehicle that isn’t selling well.

Source: CBC News, Unifor