Canadian GM Engineers Can Now Develop Advanced Vehicles on the CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track

Now operational internally, an official CTC grand opening is being planned for early spring, pending COVID-19 restrictions.

GM Engineers at the Canadian Technical Centre (CTC) can begin putting their “code-to-the-road” on the newly completed CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track (CTC MATT). CTC honors GM Canada founder, Colonel Sam McLaughlin. The 55-acre outdoor track is part of the Oshawa Transformation Agreement and the C$170 million GM investment announced in May 2019.

The 55-acre operation on the southern-end of the Oshawa Operations expands GM’s Canadian technology footprint to four sites. With campuses in Markham and Oshawa and the Kapuskasing Proving Grounds in northern Ontario, the CTC has grown to become the largest software engineering and development center for GM outside the U.S. (AutoInformed on Unifor Saves Some Canadian Jobs as GM Blinks on Oshawa; GM Canada Plans to Make Face Masks in Oshawa; GM to Federal and Ontario Governments – Oshawa Doomed; GM, Cruise, Microsoft to Commercialize Self-Driving Vehicles; GM Doubles Down on EVs in Bid to Win Global Race)

While the track is now operational internally, an official grand opening event with external audiences is being planned for early spring, pending COVID-19 restrictions.

With an oval-shaped design for continuous driving and four lanes with speeds ranging from 60-100 km/hour, CTC MATT will support the testing of vehicle software and technologies for self-driven, all-electric, and highly connected transportation, GM claims.

“Canada has become the ideal place for GM to expand its engineering work for the future – and the opening of the CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track will take that work even further,” said Scott Bell, GM Canada president and managing director.

The CTC MATT has a 3.6km advanced test track and 30 cold cells capable of recreating weather conditions of -45C. Kapuskasing is a full-scale permanent cold weather test facility. All GM North American vehicle programs must complete cold weather exposure testing as part of their overall durability requirement, which is always managed by the Kapuskasing Proving Grounds team.