GM Canada has historically been one of the largest and most powerful corporations in Canada, being listed as the third "largest" in 1975, and being comparable to several publicly traded companies such as
BCE,
George Weston Limited, and
Royal Bank of Canada.
McLaughlin and Buick In 1907, the "McLaughlin Motor Car Company" was founded in Ontario by
Samuel McLaughlin. The first year saw the sale of 154 McLaughlin cars. McLaughlin and
William C. Durant, respectively the biggest carriage builders in Canada and the United States, contracted for Durant's
Buick to supply McLaughlin with
power trains for 15 years. McLaughlin fitted the power trains to running gear, bodies, and chassis built by McLaughlin in Canada. The cars were branded
McLaughlin until the end of the contract, thereafter branded
McLaughlin-Buick between 1923 and 1942. In 1908, Durant and McLaughlin started General Motors Holding Company after Durant exchanged $500,000 of Buick stock for $500,000 of McLaughlin Motor Co. stock. McLaughlin also exchanged his Buick stock for General Motors stock, and in 1910 was invited to be on the board of General Motors in Detroit.
Chevrolet In 1915, Sam McLaughlin acquired the Chevrolet Car Company of Canada, which built
Chevrolets in
Oshawa with Chevrolet motors and McLaughlin bodies. but not ownership. Between 1923 and 1942, McLaughlin's cars were branded
McLaughlin-Buick. In 1942, when the production of automobiles was suspended for the
Second Great War, the last McLaughlin-Buick was built. When production resumed, they were just "
Buick". The Oshawa facility was ranked number 1 facility in overall quality in North and South America by J. D. Power. The Truck Plant was closed to give industry to Mexico, and reopen old Saturn Plants. General Motors of Canada announced a
naming rights deal for the
General Motors Centre in Oshawa on October 5, 2006. The centre's main tenants are the
Oshawa Generals junior hockey team, who were named for the company in 1937. On April 27, 2009, GM Canada announced that it would cut over half of its Canadian jobs and close 40% of its Canadian dealerships by 2014 in response to its parent company's dire financial straits. Reducing its franchises in Canada from approximately 709 dealerships to about 470 across the country, after General Motors (US) bankruptcy. The Canadian Government sold its 12% of General Motors stock, purchased in 2009, in early 2015. In 2021, GM announced that it will be converting its
CAMI Assembly plant into a large-scale commercial
electric vehicle manufacturing plant to build the
BrightDrop EV600, beginning in April 2022. With the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, GM Canada committed to the
Government of Canada the production of 10 million
face masks at cost for the
Public Health Agency of Canada. Beginning production on May 26, 2020, at its
Oshawa facility, GM Canada fulfilled its commitment on April 8, 2021.
2008 Canadian Auto Workers bargaining General Motors and the
Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union reached a tentative agreement on a new
collective bargaining contract on May 15, 2008, a full four months before the existing contract was due to expire. As part of the agreement, GM pledged to maintain production at the Oshawa, Ontario pickup truck plant and made other production commitments. On June 3, 2008, less than three weeks after ratification of the new contract, GM announced that, due to soaring gasoline prices and plummeting truck sales, it would close four additional truck and SUV plants, including the
Oshawa pickup plant. In response, the CAW organized a blockade of the GM of Canada headquarters in Oshawa. The blockade was ended by an
Ontario Superior Court order, after 12 days. Further discussions between GM and the CAW resulted in an agreement to compensate workers at the truck plant and additional product commitments for the
Oshawa car assembly plant. == Manufacturing facilities ==