Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It is the largest municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham. The name Oshawa originates from the Ojibwa term aazhawe, meaning "the crossing place" or just "a cross".
Founded in 1876 as the McLaughlin Carriage Company by Robert McLaughlin, and then McLaughlin Motors Ltd by his son, Sam, General Motors of Canada's headquarters are located in the city. The automotive industry was the inspiration for Oshawa's previous mottos: "The City that Motovates Canada", and "The City in Motion". The lavish home of the automotive company's founder, Parkwood Estate, is a National Historic Site of Canada is located in the city.
Once recognized as the sole "Automotive Capital of Canada", Oshawa today is an education and health sciences hub, although General Motors still plays a significant role in the city's economy. After having been closed for about 2 years, the Oshawa car assembly plant reopened on 10 November 2021, when the first Canadian-made Chevy Silverado was completed. GM invested C$1.3bn into plant retooling. Prior to reopening, GM said that the site would continue to be used for autonomous vehicle testing and production of vehicle stampings and other sub-assemblies.
The city is home to three post-secondary institutions Durham College, Trent University Durham and Ontario Tech University formerly the University of Ontario Institute of Technology as well as the Lakeridge Health Education and Research Network (LHEARN), in association with Lakeridge Health Oshawa, formerly the Oshawa General Hospital. Key labour force sectors include advanced manufacturing, health technology, logistics, energy and IT. In 2016, Oshawa was the sixth best place in Canada to find full-time employment based on data from StatsCan.
Downtown Oshawa is identified as an Urban Growth Centre in the Government of Ontario's Places to Grow initiative. More than 5,000 people work and more than 2,400 university students study in the downtown core. The downtown is a prominent centre for entertainment and sporting events (Regent Theatre and Tribute Communities Centre), food (50+ restaurants and cafes) and culture (The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Canadian Automotive Museum). Oshawa is home to a Regional Innovation Centre and offers start-up facilities for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Co-working offices are also located in the downtown.
History
Historians believe that the area that would become Oshawa began as a transfer point for the fur trade. Beaver and other animals trapped for their pelts by local natives were traded with the coureurs des bois (voyagers). Furs were loaded onto canoes by the Mississauga Natives at the Oshawa harbour and transported to the trading posts located to the west at the mouth of the Credit River. Around 1760, the French constructed a trading post near the harbour. This location was abandoned after a few years, but its ruins provided shelter for the first residents of what later became Oshawa. Most notably, one of the fur traders was Moody Farewell, an early resident of the community who was to some extent responsible for its name change.
In the late 18th century a local resident, Roger Conant, started an export business shipping salmon to the United States. His success attracted further migration into the region. A large number of the founding immigrants were United Empire Loyalists, who left the United States to live under British rule. Later, Irish and then French Canadian immigration increased as did industrialization. Oshawa and the surrounding Ontario County were also the settling grounds of a disproportionate number of 19th century Cornish immigrants during the Cornish emigration which emptied large tracts of that part of England. As well, the surveys ordered by Governor John Graves Simcoe, and the subsequent land grants, helped populate the area. When Col. Asa Danforth laid out his York-to-Kingston road, it passed through what would later become Oshawa.