General Motors (GM) Canada announced that its Oshawa facility—which was slated to close by the end of this year—will transition to a stamping, sub-assembly and autonomous vehicle-testing facility. The company expects to save 300 jobs. In a statement, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains called the news “encouraging.” (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The announcement follows negotiations by labour union Unifor and intense public and political pressure to save the over 2,500 jobs poised to be lost. However, the decision to remain open still benefits GM, which now stands to capitalize on the growing autonomous-vehicle industry in Ontario. The province was the first in Canada to permit autonomous-vehicle testing on roads, and its government is investing $80 million over five years through the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network toward technology development in several regions across Canada like Durham Region, which includes Oshawa. In the U.S., President Trump praised GM for selling its shuttered Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant to Workhorse, an electric truck- and aircraft-maker.