More than 600 laid off General Motors workers will have their jobs back when the company adds a third shift at its Oshawa assembly plant and boosts production at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont.

General Motors Canada, headquartered in Oshawa, says the shift will be added later this year to respond to increased demand for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.

The vehicles are currently made at the Ingersoll plant, northeast of London, Ont. GM plans to move some of the production for the Equinox to its Oshawa plant.


"This is certainly good news, not only for General Motors, but the communities," BNN's Michael Kane told CTV News Channel Friday.

A third shift in Oshawa will be added in October, with about 600 workers to be recalled.

At CAMI, all laid off workers will be recalled and 70 new fulltime jobs will be added.

GM Canada president Kevin Williams says the company is growing.

"By the end of this year, we expect to recall all laid-off production employees in Oshawa to support the new Equinox, Regal and Camaro convertible production planned there and, at CAMI, we will even be hiring some new workers - truly great news for the employees, dealers, suppliers and communities affected," Williams said in a statement Friday.

Canadian Auto Workers Union president Ken Lewenza said the announcement was "great for Canada."

The company, along with its American counterpart, was put on life support last year when billions of dollars from Washington, Ottawa and the Ontario government were needed to keep it afloat.

But after a brief stay in court protection, GM has begun to emerge from the recession.

The company employees about 9,000 people in Canada, mostly in Ontario.

With files from The Canadian Press