Investment to increase the resilience of Canada’s supply of critical personal protective equipment

News release

Funding will support the establishment of a manufacturing facility for an essential component of made-in-Canada life-saving respirators and surgical masks to ensure Canada’s pandemic preparedness

June 17, 2021 – Montréal, Quebec

The Government of Canada has worked tirelessly to equip front-line health care workers and Canadians with the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need in the fight against COVID-19. Ensuring future pandemic preparedness, as well as meeting the ongoing demand for PPE, is a top priority, and the government is investing in businesses that can fill manufacturing and supply gaps while creating good jobs for Canadians.

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced an investment of up to $28.99 million in Meltech Innovation Canada Inc., a newly established division of Medicom Group Inc. (Medicom). This investment will support a $38.754-million project, which includes the establishment of a new factory in Greater Montréal dedicated to manufacturing the specialized fabric required to produce life-saving respirators and surgical masks. As a part of this project, Meltech Innovation will establish a research and development (R&D) lab and testing facility to improve this material and develop innovative material options for PPE.

This factory will fill an existing domestic manufacturing gap. By securing an end-to-end PPE supply chain, Canada will be more self-sufficient and reduce the risk of future supply chain interruptions. Once fully operational, the factory is expected to supply enough of this fabric to produce over half a billion masks per year. Through this project, Meltech Innovation will gradually meet Medicom’s Canadian manufacturing needs and then expand to support its global sites.

This project will enable the company to create and maintain 21 jobs and provide up to 16 student co-op opportunities.

Quotes

“Our top priority is protecting the safety and security of Canadians. We are investing to ensure we can produce critical PPE here in Canada. Today’s investment in Meltech is an important step toward improving Canada’s resilience and pandemic preparedness. This investment will ensure that Canadian front-line health care workers continue to have a reliable supply of the critical PPE they need, while creating good jobs here in Montréal.”
- The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

“Medicom is proud to continue our investments in supply chain sovereignty in partnership with governments around the world, including right here in Canada where our head office has been located for three decades. As a company, we take great pride in protection and in the consistent quality of the materials that go into our protective products from our global network of manufacturing facilities. We are very proud to be planning the production of medical grade filter material right here in Canada with the establishment of Meltech Innovation.”
- Ronald Reuben, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Medicom

Quick facts

  • Meltech Innovation Canada Inc., established in March 2020, is an affiliate of Medicom, a privately owned Canadian company in Montréal. Medicom has operations in over 50 countries and is an internationally recognized supplier of high-quality PPE products.

  • With this new factory, Meltech Innovation will build Canada’s capacity for the production of the middle filter layer commonly used in the manufacturing of respirators and surgical masks, which is also known as meltblown polypropylene. 

  • In April 2020, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced a contract with Medicom for 20 million N95 respirators and 24 million surgical masks per year for the next 10 years.

  • This project will secure the domestic PPE supply chain and strengthen Canada’s capabilities to respond to future pandemics.

  • Under this agreement, Meltech Innovation will work with the Government of Canada to ensure that any PPE materials developed will be accessible and available to the Canadian population on a timely basis.

  • Meltech Innovation will conduct R&D to identify more environmentally sustainable material options and products for PPE, as well as implement an environmental sustainability plan.

  • The funding announced today comes from the Strategic Innovation Fund.

Associated links

Contacts

John Power
A/Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
john.power@canada.ca

Media Relations
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca

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