The province of Ontario announced Tuesday that it is supporting the construction of a facility that will manufacture medical grade nitrile gloves in London.
The first-of-its kind facility in Canada, the facility will be 120,000 square feet in size and employ over 145 people, with the potential to double the number of employees in a potential future expansion. The facility will also create 300 indirect jobs in the region and up to 1,000 temporary jobs during the construction and set-up phase.
According to a press release, the province says that it domestically produces other forms of PPE such as N95 respirators and surgical masks, but nitrile gloves are not produced in Ontario and “have some of the greatest supply chain uncertainty.”
“Building this nitrile glove manufacturing facility in London means we will be ready to respond to future emergencies without having to rely on uncertain foreign supply,” said Ross Romano, minister of government and consumer services.
He adds, “On top of protecting the safety of Ontarians, we’re growing our economy by supporting domestic businesses and creating hundreds of good manufacturing jobs for our workers.”
The press release says that the London-based facility will be the first nitrile glove manufacturing plant outside of Asia and will bolster PPE supplies throughout Canada and North America.
“Our investment in Manikheir will ensure a secure and reliable supply of nitrile gloves. This critical piece of PPE will reduce Ontario’s dependence on foreign suppliers and brings us closer to having a fully integrated PPE supply chain right here in Ontario,” says Vic Fedeli, minister of economic development, job creation and trade.
The province adds that as part of its contract, Manikheir Canada Inc. will provide at least 500 million medical grade nitrile gloves annually for up to 10 years.
The facility is expected to be fully operational by spring 2024.