An inside look at how GM Canada stepped-up during the COVID-19 pandemic to produce 10 million face masks at cost for the Government of Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a critical shortage of face masks across the world, meaning Canadians were at risk of going without the protection they needed to keep themselves, their families, and others safe.
That’s why, in April 2020, GM Canada responded to the Prime Minister’s call-to-action for domestically manufactured PPE with a plan to help.
In a matter of weeks, with support from GM’s global supply chain, the company sourced materials, built a ‘Canadian Mask Making (CMM)’ 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.
Follow our journey to 10 million face masks below.
1April 24, 2020
To help Canada meet the urgent need for face masks for health care professionals and fellow Canadians, GM Canada announced plans to prepare a portion of its Oshawa Operations to produce face masks at cost for the Government of Canada.
2April 29, 2020
Just five days later, teams at GM Canada’s Oshawa Operations received the mask-making equipment in what would become the Canadian Mask Making room.
3May 8, 2020
By the first week of May 2020, teams at the Oshawa Operations had built and prepared a clean room environment, installed the required mask equipment, and begun training for the start of production.
4May 26, 2020
On May 26, 2020 the Government of Canada officially contracted General Motors of Canada to provide 10 million face masks over the next year. In partnership with Unifor, the company recalled 60 employees to support two shifts, and production began immediately.
5June 26, 2020
As employees in the Canadian Mask Making (CMM) room found their stride, the first shipment of more than 436,000 masks made it way to the Government of Canada on June 26, 2020.
6July 10, 2020
July 10, 2020 marked another significant milestone – one million masks made for Canadians, by Canadians.
The Oshawa Operations team welcomed the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (FMR.) and the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement to help celebrate the achievement.
7July 2020 – March 2021
Working at a pace that produced approximately one million masks every month, employees in the Canadian Mask Making room were safely visited by community partners to help mark each millionth mask milestone on the journey to 10 million.
Municipal government leaders, educational institution representatives, local GM dealers, charitable organizations and business partners each toured the Canadian Mask Making room to meet with employees and experience the mask line for themselves.
8April 8, 2021
On April 8, GM Canada fulfilled its commitment to the Government of Canada to produce 10 million face masks at cost. To commemorate the Canadian Mask Making (CMM) Room project, the official 10-millionth mask was donated to the Ingenium, Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation in Ottawa.
After fulfilling its obligation to the Canadian Government, GM Canada also produced nearly 500,000 additional masks that were distributed to its nearly 450 dealers. In turn, dealers donated the masks to local charities of their choice across Canada.
"We want to thank the Government of Canada, our suppliers, and our Unifor partners for their support in making this project possible. Although this milestone marks the end of our contract with the Government of Canada, GM will leverage the speed and agility of our pandemic response to continue supporting our customers and communities."
- Scott Bell, GM Canada president and managing director