Todd Smith, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, issued the following statement in response to the announcement from General Motors Canada and Unifor about transformation of the Oshawa assembly complex:
“We welcome the agreement between GM Canada and Unifor, which will maintain 300 good jobs at General Motors Oshawa. This is good news for the City of Oshawa and all of Durham. We are glad this historic site will continue to be a hub for vehicle parts manufacturing, technological innovation and regional economic growth.
While this agreement is a positive development, many workers still face an uncertain future as the plant scales down. Our government is there for those workers and their families. Our government is working with GM and Unifor to support affected GM employees and their families through its Rapid Re-employment Training Service, with plans for an action centre to open in June.
We continue to take action to make Ontario open for business and we are working closely with the auto industry through our government’s 10-year plan, Driving Prosperity: The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector.
The auto sector can count on our government to support and partner with them. We will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our auto workers.”