It’s the end of an era for automotive production in Canada.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is officially ending production at its Oshawa assembly plant, shutting down the last vehicle manufacturing in the Ontario city. A total of 2,600 direct employees at the Oshawa plant are expected to produce their final vehicles on December 18.
GM announced in November 2018 that it would shut down the plant along with four others in the U.S. as part of a wider restructuring.
However, in May of this year, the company committed $170 million to convert the plant into a stamping and sub-assembly operation and maintain 300 jobs, as well as convert part of the complex into an advanced technology test track.
The end of production will have a ripple effect among the workers and suppliers who rely on the plant, as well as the wider community.
General Motors started producing cars in Oshawa in 1918 and opened the Oshawa assembly plant in 1953. At its peak in the 1980s, the plant employed 23,000 people and produced as many as 730,000 cars and trucks each year.
GM closed trading Tuesday at $36.31 U.S. a share.