2022 Automotive News Canada All-Stars

The resurrection of General Motors’ Oshawa Assembly, which GM had shuttered, seemingly permanently in 2019, allowed the company to reset its workforce. Reopened in late 2021, the factory now boasts a 50-50 gender split among the roughly 1,200 new hires. Christopher Thomson, 48, played an integral role in the newfound diversity, conferring with Unifor, which represents workers at the plant, in an effort to bring hundreds more women to the traditionally male-dominated profession.

The company didn’t simply prioritize female applicants, it aggressively marketed the jobs to women, using advertising and social media to promote testimonials from female GM employees. For the 1,200 positions, the company received more than 13,000 resumes.