The union that represents 1,200 workers at the General Motors (GM) CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ont., says the company will temporarily halt and then reduce production of the BrightDrop electric delivery van — a move that’s expected to result in hundreds of indefinite layoffs.
“GM has informed Unifor that CAMI Assembly will initiate temporary layoffs starting April 14 with workers returning in May for limited production,” Unifor Local 88 said in a release Friday.
“After that, production will temporarily cease with operations idling until October 2025. During this downtime, GM plans to complete retooling work to prepare the facility for production of the 2026 model year of commercial electric vehicles.”
Unifor says when production resumes in October, the plant will operate on a single shift for the “foreseeable future,” which is expected to result in the indefinite layoffs of nearly 500 workers.
“This is a crushing blow to hundreds of working families in Ingersoll and the surrounding region who depend on this plant,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a release.
“General Motors must do everything in its power to mitigate job loss during this downturn, and all levels of government must step up to support Canadian auto workers and Canadian-made products.”
GM Canada spokesperson Jennifer Wright said the company is making “operational and employment adjustments to balance inventory and align production schedules with current demand,” but that the company remains committed to keeping BrightDrop production at the CAMI plant.
GM says the move is “directly related” to lower market demand, and didn’t mentions tariffs as a factor.
In March, the Detroit Free Press reported that GM has struggled to sell its BrightDrop delivery vehicles in the U.S., and noted that before incentives, Ford’s electric van is more than $20,000 cheaper than GM’s.
Payne, meanwhile, maintains that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war is hurting the North American auto industry, while emboldening markets like China.
“The reality is the U.S. is creating industry turmoil. Trump’s short-sighted tariffs and rejection of EV technology is disrupting investment and freezing future order projections,” said Payne. “This is creating an opening for China and other foreign automakers to dominate the global EV market while the North America industry risks falling behind.”
Trump has slapped 25 per cent duties on imported vehicles, with temporary reprieve for some parts that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by placing retaliatory tariffs on automobiles coming in from the U.S.
“Make no mistake — the world is moving rapidly towards electrification. If Canada and the U.S. hit pause now, we may never catch up,” Payne warned. “We risk surrendering our future unless we act decisively to support our own industry.”
With files from The Canadian Press
