Recent statistics indicate that the Canadian auto industry is facing challenges due to the ongoing tariff situation brought on by the U. S. government. We might soon see another clear example of this issue.
Leading industry experts suggest that General Motors may stop producing the light-duty Chevrolet Silverado 1500 at its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, before 2026 ends. Unless they introduce a different model for production, only heavy-duty versions of the Silverado would continue to be made at this facility. This shift would significantly reduce both output and jobs at Oshawa Assembly.
A sharp drop in production
According to Automotive News Canada, if GM proceeds with this decision, it would greatly speed up a decline in production that has been occurring for some time now. The publication reports that Oshawa assembled 152,190 pickups in 2024 and dropped to 125,758 units in 2025. Things got even slower early in 2026 when GM cut its third shift, resulting in around 700 hourly workers losing their jobs. Just barely staying operational
Sam Fiorani, VP of global vehicle forecasting at Auto Forecast Solutions based in Pennsylvania, estimated that completely halting Silverado 1500 production would shrink the plant’s annual output down to just about 50,000 heavy-duty trucks. Joe Mc Cabe, CEO of the firm, mentioned that focusing solely on Silverado HD would eventually require shifting from two shifts to just one shift. “It’s enough to keep the lights on,” Mc Cabe noted while highlighting that overall demand for heavy-duty pickups is still limited by market factors. Photo: General Motors Inside GM’S Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario Trade tensions and strategic changes
Although GM hasn’t directly linked its plans to current tariffs, it’s hard not to connect their scaling back operations in Canada with the challenging tariff landscape affecting North America’s automotive sector. Since January 2025 when the current U. S. administration took office, American tariffs on vehicles made in Canada have heavily impacted local manufacturing efforts. This trade tension has already led GM to pause operations at its CAMI Assembly plant located in Ingersoll, Ontario due to low sales of the Bright Drop electric van produced there. Meanwhile, GM is aggressively expanding its presence within the U. S. The automaker announced a significant $4 billion USD investment across multiple American assembly facilities and has increased heavy-duty truck production hours at its Flint plant to six days a week while also boosting light-duty truck capacity at its Indiana site. Notably when GM revealed its next-generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for model year ’27, company leaders broke from tradition by not naming which plants will produce this updated pickup truck model. Currently, light-duty versions are built not just at Oshawa but also in Indiana and Mexico as well as Oshawa again. Official statements and union concerns
GM Canada is actively refuting rumors about an impending reduction in production levels. Company spokesperson Jennifer Wright indicated that employment levels and shift schedules are expected to remain steady as they transition into producing next-generation trucks there. This change comes with a backing investment of $343 million CAD for Oshawa which includes $63 million CAD allocated specifically for stamping major body panels. However , the corporate timeline remains unclear; while thenext-gen Silverado1500issettolaunchthisyear, the redesignedheavy-dutymodelsaren’texpecteduntil2029. Theabsenceofclearproductconfirmationhasnaturallyraisedseriousconcernsatthe Unifor Local222unionthatrepresentsover2 ,000hourlyworkersattheplant. Local President Jeff Graydescribedtheworkforceas“extremelyconcerned”aboutjobsecurity. Contractnegotiationsbetweentheunionandtheautomakerareontracktobeginthissummer, a processfurthercomplicatedbybroadergeopoliticaluncertaintiessurroundingthefutureofthe Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement(CUSMA). Whiledarkcloudscontinuetogatherabove Oshawa, in Ste-Catharines, silverliningsareemerging. GMhasmadeasubstantial$691million CADinvestmentinitspropulsionplantatthat Ontariolocationwhereitwillproduceitsnext-gene V8engines. In GM’sview, thisservesasdefinitiveproofthattheautomakerdoesnotplanabandonits Canadianmanufacturingpresence-atleastnotcompletely.
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According to Automotive News Canada, if GM proceeds with this decision, it would greatly speed up a decline in production that has been occurring for some time now. The publication reports that Oshawa assembled 152,190 pickups in 2024 and dropped to 125,758 units in 2025. Things got even slower early in 2026 when GM cut its third shift, resulting in around 700 hourly workers losing their jobs. Just barely staying operational
Sam Fiorani, VP of global vehicle forecasting at Auto Forecast Solutions based in Pennsylvania, estimated that completely halting Silverado 1500 production would shrink the plant’s annual output down to just about 50,000 heavy-duty trucks. Joe Mc Cabe, CEO of the firm, mentioned that focusing solely on Silverado HD would eventually require shifting from two shifts to just one shift. “It’s enough to keep the lights on,” Mc Cabe noted while highlighting that overall demand for heavy-duty pickups is still limited by market factors. Photo: General Motors Inside GM’S Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario Trade tensions and strategic changes
Although GM hasn’t directly linked its plans to current tariffs, it’s hard not to connect their scaling back operations in Canada with the challenging tariff landscape affecting North America’s automotive sector. Since January 2025 when the current U. S. administration took office, American tariffs on vehicles made in Canada have heavily impacted local manufacturing efforts. This trade tension has already led GM to pause operations at its CAMI Assembly plant located in Ingersoll, Ontario due to low sales of the Bright Drop electric van produced there. Meanwhile, GM is aggressively expanding its presence within the U. S. The automaker announced a significant $4 billion USD investment across multiple American assembly facilities and has increased heavy-duty truck production hours at its Flint plant to six days a week while also boosting light-duty truck capacity at its Indiana site. Notably when GM revealed its next-generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for model year ’27, company leaders broke from tradition by not naming which plants will produce this updated pickup truck model. Currently, light-duty versions are built not just at Oshawa but also in Indiana and Mexico as well as Oshawa again. Official statements and union concerns
GM Canada is actively refuting rumors about an impending reduction in production levels. Company spokesperson Jennifer Wright indicated that employment levels and shift schedules are expected to remain steady as they transition into producing next-generation trucks there. This change comes with a backing investment of $343 million CAD for Oshawa which includes $63 million CAD allocated specifically for stamping major body panels. However , the corporate timeline remains unclear; while thenext-gen Silverado1500issettolaunchthisyear, the redesignedheavy-dutymodelsaren’texpecteduntil2029. Theabsenceofclearproductconfirmationhasnaturallyraisedseriousconcernsatthe Unifor Local222unionthatrepresentsover2 ,000hourlyworkersattheplant. Local President Jeff Graydescribedtheworkforceas“extremelyconcerned”aboutjobsecurity. Contractnegotiationsbetweentheunionandtheautomakerareontracktobeginthissummer, a processfurthercomplicatedbybroadergeopoliticaluncertaintiessurroundingthefutureofthe Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement(CUSMA). Whiledarkcloudscontinuetogatherabove Oshawa, in Ste-Catharines, silverliningsareemerging. GMhasmadeasubstantial$691million CADinvestmentinitspropulsionplantatthat Ontariolocationwhereitwillproduceitsnext-gene V8engines. In GM’sview, thisservesasdefinitiveproofthattheautomakerdoesnotplanabandonits Canadianmanufacturingpresence-atleastnotcompletely.
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