A new job action centre designed to help autoworkers and parts makers who lost their jobs in the wake of the closure of General Motors’ Oshawa plant is set to open this month at the Unifor office in the southern Ontario city.

Canada’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1 per cent in October, the first monthly decline since February, partly because of a U.S. auto strike that hit manufacturing, Statistics Canada data indicates.

In many ways, Oshawa, Ont., has been synonymous with Canadian auto manufacturing since the turn of the 20th Century, its output a symbol of Canadian manufacturing might. If it can be shuttered, is any plant safe?

Unifor President Jerry Dias holds out hope that GM will one day resume auto assembly at its Oshawa, Ont., plant. In the meantime, the union and city prepare for life after vehicle manufacturing as the factory shifts to stamping parts and testing connected-vehicle technology.