Will Float Production Return to Canada?

Canada should consider establishing its own float glass production within the next several years due the need to reduce its dependence on the United States and ensure stable domestic supplies, according to regional organizations.

As the initial fears of massive disruptions of float glass supplies from the U.S. have generally eased, local analysts from Fenestration Canada; the Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association; and the Ontario Glass and Metal Association say serious actions are needed in order to ensure Canada’s better security in its float glass sector.

Housing construction likely to increase demand for float glass 

This need to ensure the float supply is also due to the recent, active growth in demand for float glass in Canada thanks to an active housing construction market. The Canadian Prime Minister and the Premiers have been clear about increasing the housing supply, which will require glass. If the programs being put into place come to fruition and are successful at increasing the quantity of buildings, the overall demand should rise.

As an example of the recent housing boom, the federal government and the city of Toronto announced that they would allocate CAD$2.55 billion in low-cost loans through the Apartment Construction Loan Program (ACLP) to help build more than 4,800 rental units, including at least 1,000 affordable rental units. The money will be allocated to seven selected projects. The city will provide approximately $234.83 million in estimated value in city benefits for these affordable and purpose-built rental homes.

The announcement is in addition to the recent $975 million investment, which includes $325 million from the government of Canada, to accelerate the delivery of Waterfront Toronto’s revitalization plan that will contribute to creating over 14,000 new homes along Toronto’s Waterfront at Quayside and Ookwemin Minising.

Adrian Edge, director of codes and regulatory affairs for Fenestration Canada, in an exclusive interview, confirmed these market trends and the current stabilization of the Canadian float glass sector. “At this time, without any additional tariff pressures, tensions on the conversation about float glass or architectural glass supply have calmed down,” Edge says. “That being said, this is the second time in four years that the supply of float glass has been threatened.”

Edge also believes that Canada needs its own float glass production, and will see manufacturing develop in the near-term: “As a strategic resource without a viable alternative, and given we have most of the resources required to create our own float glass, it's both advantageous for supply chain security and Canada's ability to ensure the components of a good window, car, or other item requiring glass is within the means for the Canadian industries to determine. I'm confident we could see a float glass manufacturer in Canada within the next 3-4 years.”

Edge also adds that Fenestration Canada, on behalf of the fenestration sector in Canada, is looking into ways to support potential float glass manufacturing in the future. Analysts for Fenestration Canada expect the demand for float glass will continue to grow in Canada in years to come, which could then speed the revival of Canada’s own float production.

According to Edge, while there's been a slight economic slowdown, it's much less than expected, given the uncertain economic climate.

The history of float production in Canada 

Canada suspended its float glass production more than 50 years ago. While there were some attempts to restore it in the past, these have not produced results.

In 2021 the plans to build a float glass plant in Manitoba were announced by the local company Canadian Premium Sand.

The company planned to build the plant near its own silica sand deposit in the Winnipeg area. The high purity silica deposit is located about 160 kilometres north of Winnipeg in the Wanipigow region.

Canadian Premium Sand considered Winnipeg one of the best distribution hubs in North America due to its direct access to the U.S., as well as eastern and western Canada.

But instead of pursuing the construction of a float plant, CPS transformed its business to create solar glass for renewable energy. According to the company, it is the first time solar glass will be produced in Canada. This proposed solar glass manufacturing facility, to be located in Selkirk, Manitoba, will also be the only one of its kind in North America and will provide employment opportunities for communities in and around Selkirk.

Prior to CPS’s proposed float plant, Xinyi Canada had proposed building a $400-million float glass plant in Stratford, a city known for its theatre festival in southwest Ontario that would have provided about 380 jobs. However, the project was met with stern opposition from a small number of local residents largely related to concerns about the amount of groundwater that would have been used at the plant, as well as the carbon footprint of the plant.

The termination of the project was associated with a scandal in Ontario province at that the time.

Ultimately, officials at the Chinese company Xinyi was very disappointed with the position of Stratford City Council, which did not approve the cost-sharing agreement between the City of Stratford and Xinyi Canada, a measure that was considered essential for the timely development and building of the proposed float glass facility. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns in Canada in 2021 became another reason for the cancellation of the project.

The proposed factory was first announced by Xinyi executives in 2018, during a trip to Canada, and would have represented the company’s first glass factory in North America.

Xinyi officials argued that with an investment of $400 million, the project would have benefited Stratford and the region by creating, among other things, 380 permanent, highly skilled and well-paid jobs over a five-year period, as well as more than 1,000 adjacent jobs in the construction sector and related businesses.

Still, in 2021 the City of Stratford paused its review of the glass plant's development and cost-sharing agreement due to the provincial lockdown and stay-at-home order.

Xinyi Canada expressed disappointment at the time, saying its proposed facility would be of great benefit to Stratford, especially during difficult economic times, according to Chris Pidgeon, a spokesperson for Xinyi Canada.

The company had initially attempted to establish itself in another municipality in the region, Guelph-Eramosa, but was rejected by the local city council in 2018, which feared the factory’s potentially harmful impacts on the environment.

In case of Stratford, the local citizen groups opposed the project, which ultimately lead to the project’s failure.

A company spokesman made the following statement in 2021: 

“Unfortunately, disinformation and lies spread by small opposition groups have negatively impacted public perception of the project. Radical insinuations were made, with open hostility demonstrated against the development of the project.”  

Still, a Xinyi representative told local Ontario media that the company is ready to bring the factory back to Ontario when the investment environment is more welcoming.