Industry Minister Melanie Joly says she has given General Motors 15 days to deliver a full update on its “next steps” for workers at its plant in Ingersoll, Ont., after ending production there earlier this week.
“Canadian workers deserve clarity and action, not uncertainty,” Joly said in a brief social media statement after meeting with representatives from GM, Unifor and the Ontario government Thursday.
Separately, a government source told Global News that Ottawa will limit the number of vehicles GM and Stellantis can import tariff-free from the United States to sell in Canada.
The move, which was first reported by CBC News Thursday evening, comes after the government vowed to hold both companies accountable for threatening auto manufacturing jobs in Canada by shutting down production at two plants in Ontario.
General Motors said Tuesday that the decision to end production of the BrightDrop electric delivery van at its CAMI plant was demand-related, and it wasn’t moving production elsewhere.
The company had already temporarily cut production in April before fully idling the plant in May, leaving more than 1,200 unionized workers temporarily laid off. The plant was supposed to restart operations in November with a single shift that would have meant around half that number heading back to work.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Joly said she was putting together a “response group” with the goal of bringing a new model to be produced at the plant.
GM’s announcement came less than a week after Stellantis said it was moving production of its Jeep Compass from its plant in Brampton, Ont., to Illinois, as part of a surge of investment to the U.S.
Joly has said the government was considering all its options, “including legal,” to hold the company accountable for the move. She has suggested Stellantis broke promises to protect Canadian jobs and investment in exchange for billions of dollars in federal subsidies.
Conservatives have sought to find out if the contracts signed between Stellantis and Ottawa included “guarantees” for Canadian autoworkers.
The federal government in April said companies that continue to manufacture vehicles in Canada will get an exemption from Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs.
Ottawa’s move to limit those tariff-free imports for GM and Stellantis means they will no longer be eligible for that exemption.
Trump has said his tariffs are intended to drive auto manufacturing back to the United States, and his administration wants future North American supply chains to prioritize American production.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House early this month, Trump said the two sides were working on “formulas” for auto production and supply that Carney said would ensure both countries’ industries remain both collaborative and competitive.
Auto manufacturing is also expected to take centre stage during next July’s review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade.
More to come…
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
