The Ontario and federal governments are investing with 3M Canada to expand its Brockville manufacturing facility to produce made-in-Ontario N95 respirators. Both levels of government are investing $23.33 million to support 3M’s capital investment of $70 million. The expanded facility will produce enough respirators to meet private sector, provincial and North American market demand throughout the pandemic and beyond.
The announcement was made today on the site of the expansion by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford, Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Doug Ford termed the announcement “One of my proudest moments as Premier of this province.”
“In the face of a global pandemic, I vowed as Premier that we would do everything we can to get the essential supplies we need to protect our heroic healthcare and frontline workers in the province,” said Premier Ford. “Ontario is a manufacturing powerhouse and our joint investment with the federal government and 3M Canada shows we can make the best N95 respirators anywhere in the world to supply our frontline heroes here in Ontario and right across Canada.”
The Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada reached a five-year agreement with 3M for the provision of 50 million respirators annually beginning in early 2021 to meet current demand for frontline healthcare workers in Ontario and across Canada. The respirators will be shared equally between Ontario and Ottawa.
The project is expected to create 30 jobs in Brockville, Ontario, including production operators, maintenance technicians, process engineers, supervisors and quality assurance professionals.
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