Only longstanding holdout Kia and some low-volume brands such as Rolls-Royce were absent from the Ottawa Gatineau International Auto Show this year.

Kia isn’t just relying on a high-profile hockey sponsorship to boost the brand. The new Forte is roomier inside and sleeker outside, with styling that tips its hat to the Stinger sport sedan. 

Unifor President Jerry Dias says he's "quite optimistic that we're going to be maintaining some sort of a footprint in Oshawa." The union is so hopeful that it has postponed an aggressive multi-media campaign to persuade the automaker to reverse its November decision to close the facility.

A hearing scheduled for Tuesday before the House of Commons industry committee was abruptly cancelled a day earlier due to what GM of Canada corporate affairs vice-president David Paterson called "multiple conflicts." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he spoke with GM CEO Mary Barra on Monday.

New trade deals in Asia and Europe, and $1.1 billion of government money over six years to aid expansion, are measures intended to jolt Canadian businesses, including automotive companies, into realizing they need to think globally.

BlackBerry is offering a free security management service to autonomous-vehicle pilot projects to allow cars and infrastructure to securely exchange information. The tech giant eventually plans to charge for the software.