2021-04-12
OSHAWA, Ont. (April 12, 2021) — On April 8, GM Canada fulfilled its commitment to the Government of Canada to produce 10 million face masks at cost for the Public Health Agency of Canada. Since the start of production on May 26, 2020, the team at Oshawa Operations produced approximately one million masks a month to help protect front-line workers and other Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want to thank the Government of Canada, our suppliers, and our Unifor partners for their support in making this project possible,” said Scott Bell, GM Canada president and managing director. “Although this milestone marks the end of our contract with Health Canada, GM will leverage the speed and agility of our pandemic response to continue supporting our customers and communities.”
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said: “The last year has shown that in difficult times, Canadians roll their sleeves up together. Canada was in need of PPE, and GM Canada stepped up to be part of the solution by contributing to Canada’s domestic capacity for crucial face masks. I want to thank GM Canada, its workers and Unifor, for playing an important part in Canada’s fight against COVID-19. You are tremendous examples of Canadian kindness and ingenuity.”
Unifor’s National President, Jerry Dias, said, “When Health Canada needed masks urgently to fight the spread of COVID-19, our members were proud to get to work and ramp up production quickly, and these highly skilled workers have shown that they can adapt and step up when needed. This project shows what we can accomplish when the union, government and the employer work together to collaborate, and should the Government of Canada require further orders, Unifor members are ready, willing and able to resume mask production if called upon.”
Commemorating the historic project
To commemorate the Canadian Mask Making (CMM) Room project, the official 10-millionth mask will be donated to the Ingenium, Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation in Ottawa.
Since March 2020, Ingenium's Curating Under Quarantine Initiative has been working with a variety of Canadian industries (nuclear, aviation, agriculture, production and manufacturing, and public transportation) to document the ways in which these companies, associations, and providers have pivoted and responded to the pandemic. As part of their research, the museums have been working closely with GM Canada to document the Canadian Mask Making effort.
"This documentation work is critically important in shaping our ability to understand the first year of COVID-19 in Canada and capture the different ways in which industry has responded and adapted,” said Emily Gann, Curator, National Resources and Industrial Technologies. “Working with GM Canada so as to preserve stories from the CMM also enables us to be able to share this history with future generations who have not lived through this moment."
In addition, GM Canada and our dealers will donate masks to charities across Canada. After fulfilling its obligation to the Canadian Government, GM Canada will produce nearly 500,000 additional masks that will be distributed to its nearly 450 dealers. In turn, dealers will donate the masks to local charities of their choice.
“I’m proud to be associated with GM Canada and the work they did to protect Canadians as we continue through these challenging times,” said Mary Nurse, owner of Nurse Chevrolet in Whitby, Ontario. “Because dealerships like mine have such deep connections to our local communities, we have seen firsthand how the pandemic has affected so many charitable organizations and the people they serve. We appreciate the opportunity to donate masks to a local community organization to help protect their staff, volunteers and participants so they can continue their important work to make a difference in our community.”
Applying “mask speed” to full-sized truck launch
GM Canada received its Medical Device Establishment License from Health Canada on April 22, 2020, and in just over three weeks with support from GM’s global supply chain, the company sourced materials, built the clean room with enhanced safety protocols, installed the required equipment, and recalled and trained 60 workers for two shifts of production in Oshawa in partnership with Unifor. The first mask delivered to the government was produced on May 26, 2020.
Today, the team at Oshawa Assembly is applying the same agility and innovation to prepare the plant for full-sized pickup production. Announced in November 2020, the plant will receive an investment of C$ 1.3 billion to build a new body shop and flexible assembly module with intention of starting production in January 2022. That target was already several months faster than the typical production launch calendar – and Oshawa is working to further accelerate the pickup program.
Additional quotes from community leaders and partners
Dan Carter, Mayor of Oshawa – “The commitment GM made to produce 10 million masks was an extraordinary demonstration of an organization stepping up to help our country when we need it the most. I am also grateful to GM’s Oshawa workers who have a long history of answering the call. Whether it’s producing aircraft fuselages and military transport vehicles to support our troops during the Second World War or making medical masks for our front line heroes today, their quality work and sense of pride continues to shape our great city and we thank them.”
Don Lovisa, President of Durham College – “Durham College is proud to see General Motors Canada support Canadians with this impressive achievement to produce 10 million masks. It was an honour to visit the production site to celebrate the 8 million masks milestone. This type of community support demonstrates exceptional leadership and is an example of how Canadians can work together to tackle big issues like the pandemic.”
John Henry, Durham Regional Chair and CEO – “On behalf of the Regional Municipality of Durham, I am so proud of the role that GM has played in the COVID-19 response. The commitment it took to follow through on the promise of 10 million at-cost masks is a shining example of the ingenuity, innovation, and determination of our local business community. It’s accomplishments such as this that show the world what it means to be Durham strong.”
For high-res downloads of photos, videos and b-roll of the Canadian Mask Making (CMM) room, please click here.
General Motors of Canada is headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario and is part of a global company that is committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable ways for people to get around. In Canada, General Motors markets Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles through our strong Canadian network of dealers, as well as OnStar services. More information can be found at www.gm.ca or by following @GMCanada on Twitter and Instagram.
À propos de General Motors du Canada
General Motors du Canada, dont le siège social est situé à Oshawa, en Ontario, fait partie d'une entreprise mondiale qui s'engage à offrir aux gens des solutions de transport plus sécuritaires, plus efficaces et plus écologiques. Au Canada, General Motors distribue les véhicules Chevrolet, Buick, GMC et Cadillac par l'intermédiaire de son solide réseau de concessionnaires du Canada, en plus d'offrir les services OnStar. Pour en savoir plus sur GM Canada, visitez le www.gm.ca ou abonnez-vous à @GMCanada sur Twitter et Instagram.
Employees from GM’s Oshawa Operations sign the 10 millionth mask milestone banner, after producing nearly one million masks per month since the mask line officially launched in May 2020. GM Canada has now fulfilled its commitment to the Government of Canada to produce 10 million face masks at cost for the Public Health Agency of Canada (photo credit: Ann Power).
After fulfilling its obligation to the Canadian Government, GM Canada produced nearly 500,000 additional masks to be distributed to dealers across Canada for donation to local organizations of their choice. Mary Nurse, president and owner of Nurse Chevrolet Cadillac in Whitby, Ontario is seen receiving her box containing 1,000 Canadian-made masks for donation. (Photo credit: Ann Power)
Mary Nurse (right), president and owner of Nurse Chevrolet Cadillac in Whitby, Ontario is pictured donating her 1,000 Canadian-made masks to Mary-Ann Nova (left), president of Nova’s Ark, which is a registered charity local to the Durham Region, where special is welcome. Their mission is to provide individualized, strength-based programming for individuals of all ages and abilities. (Photo credit: Ann Power)
Employees from GM’s Oshawa Operations sign the 10 millionth mask milestone banner, after producing nearly one million masks per month since the mask line officially launched in May 2020. GM Canada has now fulfilled its commitment to the Government of Canada to produce 10 million face masks at cost for the Public Health Agency of Canada (photo credit: Ann Power).
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