General Motors says it will be using its Oshawa plant to make face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“To help Canada meet the urgent need for face masks for health-care professionals and for other Canadians, GM Canada is preparing portions of the Oshawa plant to produce face masks based on the GM production model already working in Michigan,” a statement from the company read.
“We plan to manufacture approximately one million masks per month at cost for the Canadian government with an estimate of 50 employees supporting two shifts of production.”
The company said details still need to be worked out with the government as well as Unifor.
It’s the same facility where thousands of workers were laid off after GM changed operations at the location.
The plant remained open, however, amid a $170-million investment and a new focus on parts manufacturing and “a future advanced vehicle test track,” albeit with a much smaller workforce.