‘We have the capability here to be able to build almost anything.’ At a time of Trump trade turmoil, Windsor businesses look inward.
Madeline Mazak/The Windsor Star
Hot on the heels of Ottawa announcing a new defence strategy with a major planned boost in domestic military spending, 30 Windsor and Essex County manufacturing leaders are headed to Mississauga to explore how the local region can carve out a role in Canada’s growing aerospace and defence sectors.
During Friday’s trip, the group will visit Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Canada Aerospace Inc. (MHICA), an Ontario tier-one manufacturer that assembles major aircraft components.
The visit follows Prime Minister Mark Carney’s unveiling Tuesday of Canada’s new “defence industrial strategy,” aimed at boosting domestic production of military equipment — everything from ships, drones and ammunition to aerospace technology and AI.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said John Hodgins, president and CEO at Acrolab, a Windsor-based thermal engineering solutions company.
“At the end of the day, one of the challenges is that we don’t really have a defence industry in Canada anymore.
“Based on what we’ve seen over the last year, with Canada’s commitment to spending more on defence, that’s a really good signal for Canadian industry generally, and manufacturers, that we can now lean forward and develop the capabilities here, domestically, within our own country.”
Hodgins sees the federal government’s renewed focus on domestic defence production as a gateway not only for Acrolab, which has operated in Windsor since 1948, but for other businesses in the region.
The company has previously worked on defence-related projects and, in 1993, developed a specialized heat pipe cooling component used on the NASA space shuttle.
“I think we have more than enough potential here in our region to be able to do this,” Hodgins told the Star.
“We work with a lot of the tool shops, mould/die shops here in the city, as well as other companies here in the city that do unique types of operations.
“So, we have the capability here to be able to build almost anything.”
Last October, Hodgins, who is on Friday’s tour, was among a group of local manufacturers who attended the Best Defence Conference, an annual aerospace, defence and public safety industry event held in London, Ont.
The level of interest from local manufacturers is encouraging, said Gordon Orr, president and CEO of Invest WindsorEssex, the region’s lead economic development agency.
The trips to the Best Defence Conference and to MHICA were organized by Invest WindsorEssex’s business retention and expansion team.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the number of local companies that want to give up a day to go to Mississauga to learn more about it,” Orr told the Star.
“We were also very pleased with the attendance that we had at the Best Defence Conference in London last fall. So there is a definite interest.
“It just demonstrates that the companies here in Windsor-Essex are resilient, and they know when they have to pivot.”
Friday’s agenda includes a plant tour, presentations on MHICA’s operations and the national aerospace and defence landscape, as well as potential meetings with procurement officials.
Orr said MHICA representatives are anticipated to then travel to Windsor-Essex to meet with the companies that participated on Friday’s Mississauga visit.
The facility in Mississauga, a subsidiary of Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, produces and installs systems, and tests wings and fuselage sections for Bombardier Inc. business jets, including the Global 5000 and 6000 series and the Challenger 350.Orr said the visit is part of a strategy to help Windsor-Essex manufacturers, many of whom have been enduring a volatile year of tariffs and auto policy, diversify into the defence sector.
“With all of this possibility and the money that’s attached, it certainly helps us being we’re already considered North America’s advanced manufacturing powerhouse,” said Orr.
“This allows us to capitalize and we’re ready and primed to do so on the defense manufacturing opportunities that come along with this plan.”
Under the new federal strategy, Carney said he aims to triple annual investment in Canada’s domestic defence sector to more than $40 billion.
The government has set targets to boost defence exports by 50 per cent and increase the share of government defence contracts awarded to Canadian firms, in the process creating 125,000 new jobs within the next decade
Part of the new strategy is aimed at supporting the growth and integration of small and medium-sized businesses into domestic and international defence supply chains.
“I think it’s an avenue that will open up other doors for us,” Sabre Machine Tool Inc. owner Mark Scratch told the Star ahead of Friday’s trip.
He said his die and mould manufacturing facility based in Oldcastle was at one point entirely focused on the automotive industry.
Today, Scratch said about 70 per cent of Sabre’s work is automotive, and he hopes to make “automotive even less of a business strategy” in the future.
Scratch said his company began exploring opportunities in Canada’s defence and aerospace industries nearly two decades ago but hit some roadblocks.
“There’s some hoops you’ve got to jump through to get involved with this stuff,” he said. “This is where I’m hoping that somehow the government will butt in here and eliminate some of the red tape that’s required.”
During last year’s Best Defence Conference, Scratch said he had several conversations with aerospace professionals about the encouraging opportunities in the sector.
“They told me that they are starving for suppliers in the aerospace industry,” he said.
“They can’t find enough suppliers. And this is what triggered me to say, ‘Okay, well, what can I do to get involved in this?’”