The news was made official at GM’s Canadian Technical Centre in Oshawa, Ontario Canada during a recent visit by Canadian Prime, Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, which ironically enough they arrived at the facility in an all-electric Chevy Bolt, a clear symbol of the direction the industry is headed. Trudeau stated, “In choosing Canada to be the home base for a global centre for software, GM is conforming the skills and ingenuity and inner potential for Canada’s workers.” The Prime Minister then said that, “It’s a perfect fit in so many ways and I’m really glad that GM saw it that way too.” Most of the jobs will be split between existing facili- ties in Oshawa, Markham and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, but the company will also spend $10 million to expand its cold-weather-testing facility in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. No, it was not a commitment to build any new, nor did the announcement answer any questions about the fate of GM’s assembly lines (one of which is scheduled to close next year), but it is a positive sign for the future on the industry, and shows that Canada is still part of the plan as trade agreements like The Trans Pacific Partnership was signed last year. That deal has yet to be ratified if it ever will be, but we do know that Canada’s future in the industry all about the tech and that is no trouble, as we see how these deals define how Canada’s auto sector moves forward in the years to come.
By Katie Davis T here is some major good news coming out of Ontar- io’s beleaguered auto industry and that news is GM is hiring as they bank on the driverless car market. GM announced recently that is substantially boosting the number of research and development workers by bringing the number of software engineers it employs in Canada to 1,000. These jobs will all be part of GM’s R&D Team that is tasked with developing the company’s software for self-driving, autonomous connected cars.
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JULY 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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