At 6:30 a. m. on Friday, workers at GM’s Oshawa plant started clocking out for the final time and stepped into the biting cold.
They were among the first to be laid off as GM eliminated one of its three shifts. Up to 1,200 workers in the supply chain are expected to lose their jobs.
“A lot of people have some sort of resentment, but you’ve just got to go on, move on,” said Kendrick Gordon, standing outside the plant on his last day with a subcontractor.
Stephen Hyde also lost his job that Friday morning. He worked for TFT, a company supplying parts to GM, for three years. Before that, he spent 34 years at GM.
He expressed feeling an “empty feeling in the pit of my stomach” after losing his position.
Hyde, who is 66, is thinking about moving to Alberta for work since he has family in Edmonton.
“The unknown is really bad because there’s not a lot of jobs in Ontario,” he mentioned. “Jobs are disappearing quickly.”
The had previously talked with Forbes last fall when he knew about his impending layoff come January and mentioned plans about relocating out-of-province for work.
This time around though he shared how costs related to moving had become a significant obstacle. Without a solid job offer lined up yet he isn’t ready just yet tackle those expenses involved.
“We don’t really have enough money right now even cover first month’s rent or deposits,” Forbes explained.
Additonally considering applying for an apprenticeship which can take up five years; last fall he’d dismissed apprenticeships outright fearing retirement age would arrive before completion.
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Todd Forbes pictured inside his apartment with Gizmo by his side while seeking new work following being let go from the Oshawa facility last Friday; prospects look grim along with relocation expenses making it hard too.(Michael Cole/CBC)
The competitive job landscape means employers often don’t feel inclined towards offering perks like covering relocation costs claimed Rob Elkington-a business professor over Trent University.
This situation proves especially tough especially concerning folks over age fifty-five facing additional hurdles such as difficulty securing training sponsored by employers regarding professional development opportunities available today.
“Most training systems aren’t tailored well toward older worker’s learning needs.. sometimes pension regulations inadvertently punish continuing workforce involvement,” he pointed out.
No matter whether some autoworkers seek positions beyond Ontario boundaries Elkington highlighted sectors developing within Durham Region might still hold potential openings worth exploring.
Mentioning how construction projects involving a mini nuclear power station located within Bowmanville estimate around eighteen thousand new construction roles created locally plus sustaining approximately thirty-seven hundred energy posts yearly over next sixty-five years ,
The tech sector alongside manufacturing also shows growth within Durham region according To Elkington, government officials should carefully assess ways autoworkers could effectively apply their expertise meaningfully across various emerging fields now accessible .
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Joly Calls Layoffs ‘Completely Unacceptable’
Hyde stated he wants Prime Minister Mark Carney to negotiate “some type of deal” with President Donald Trump as U. S. tariffs continue affecting Canadian industries negatively. <p“Right now, Ontario is not looking very good at all,” Hyde remarked. Meanwhile, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly described the GM layoffs as “completely unacceptable” during her speech in Montreal on Friday. “If GM doesn’t want to continue investing more in Canada, we will invest in other players,” she stated. “We’ll fight for these workers and we’ll find them jobs,” she added. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly called the layoffs at GM’s Oshawa plant ‘completely unacceptable,’ speaking in Montreal on Friday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Joly revealed she met with GM on Thursday and “told them that we would be getting our money back.” The federal and Ontario governments announced their investment of up to $259 million each into GM’s Oshawa plant and its CAMI facility in Ingersoll back in 2022. However, this October, GM declared it was closing the Ingersoll plant that produced electric-powered Bright Drop delivery vans due to low demand from customers. Most of the 1,200 employees at that facility have been indefinitely laid off. “We want justice for Canadian taxpayers who have no time for those who don’t believe in us,” Joly emphasized on Friday.The Job Market Looks Tough Ahead
Affected autoworkers in Oshawa will encounter an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent in their city-higher than both provincial and national averages. “It’s pretty bad to start with; then you add all these extra people into the market,” Todd Forbes said after being laid off from TFT that same day during an interview with CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.WATCH | GM initially announced shift cut in May last year:<img src="https://ontariochronicle. ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1778213387_532_default. jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" loading="lazy"/GM Canada set to lay off hundreds at Oshawa plant
GM Canada is preparing to reduce one shift at its facility in Oshawa, Ont., impacting 500 jobs directly at GM; however, union leaders indicate up to 1,200 positions may vanish across the auto supply chain. Todd noted there’s an extra layer of competition while searching for new employment since he’ll be going against former coworkers trying to secure jobs too.The had previously talked with Forbes last fall when he knew about his impending layoff come January and mentioned plans about relocating out-of-province for work.
This time around though he shared how costs related to moving had become a significant obstacle. Without a solid job offer lined up yet he isn’t ready just yet tackle those expenses involved.
“We don’t really have enough money right now even cover first month’s rent or deposits,” Forbes explained.
Additonally considering applying for an apprenticeship which can take up five years; last fall he’d dismissed apprenticeships outright fearing retirement age would arrive before completion.
The competitive job landscape means employers often don’t feel inclined towards offering perks like covering relocation costs claimed Rob Elkington-a business professor over Trent University.
This situation proves especially tough especially concerning folks over age fifty-five facing additional hurdles such as difficulty securing training sponsored by employers regarding professional development opportunities available today.
“Most training systems aren’t tailored well toward older worker’s learning needs.. sometimes pension regulations inadvertently punish continuing workforce involvement,” he pointed out.
No matter whether some autoworkers seek positions beyond Ontario boundaries Elkington highlighted sectors developing within Durham Region might still hold potential openings worth exploring.
Mentioning how construction projects involving a mini nuclear power station located within Bowmanville estimate around eighteen thousand new construction roles created locally plus sustaining approximately thirty-seven hundred energy posts yearly over next sixty-five years ,
The tech sector alongside manufacturing also shows growth within Durham region according To Elkington, government officials should carefully assess ways autoworkers could effectively apply their expertise meaningfully across various emerging fields now accessible .
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