Auto production by Detroit Three declines in Canada as Japanese automakers

As the Detroit Three automakers have made fewer cars in Canada over the past decade, Japanese car makers have kept their Canadian footprint consistent, according to a new report.

The findings by the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, a non-profit think-tank at Western University that analyzes manufacturing in Ontario, show a decline in the overall number of cars made in Canada compared to a decade ago. In 2016, 2.3 million cars were assembled in the country; by 2025, that figure fell to 1.2 million.

The drop is largely due to lower production from U.S.-based automakers Ford, Stellantis and General Motors — also known as the Detroit Three — according to the report.

Those three companies made 56 per cent of the cars produced in Canada in 2016, falling to 23 per cent in 2025, the report says. In that same time frame, the proportion of cars made in Canada by Japanese companies Honda and Toyota rose from 44 per cent to 77 per cent. (The five companies largely make up Canada’s vehicle manufacturing industry.)

And when it comes to employment in assembly plants, the Trillium Network says Japanese carmakers are also outpacing the Detroit Three — jobs with the U.S.-based automakers accounted for 60 per cent of all such employment in Canada in 2015, falling to 38 per cent in 2024. Jobs with the Japanese companies accounted for just over 60 per cent of auto assembly employment as of 2024, the report found.

Brendan Sweeney, Trillium Network’s managing director, says the changes over the past decade show how the U.S. and Japanese companies have set different priorities for conducting business in Canada.

“There’s just this general long-term move away from Canada from U.S.-based automakers,” Sweeney said. Some Japanese makes assembled in Canada, like the Honda Civic and Toyota’s Rav 4, are also hugely popular in North America, which Sweeney says could contribute to Japan’s sustained production in part.

In 2025, GM announced it would be ending production of its BrightDrop electric delivery vans at a plant in Ingersoll, Ont. It also cut a shift at its Oshawa, Ont., plant starting last week, expected to result in job losses for 1,200 auto workers throughout the supply chain. 

WATCH | GM Canada president explains ending electric van production in Ingersoll, Ont.:

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