Canada Goose opens first Quebec factory

Boisbriand facility expected to employ 450 people

Winter coat manufacturer Canada Goose inaugurated its first factory in Quebec on Thursday.

The facility in Boisbriand is expected to employ 450 people by the end of 2018.

“We’ve been building and expanding our capacity in Canada for over a decade now,” said Dani Reiss, the company’s president and CEO. “Quebec and the Montreal area, in particular Boisbriand, has been an area which has been a very strong apparel hub in Canada for a long time. The apparel industry in Canada has gone downhill over time and we’re very happy and proud to bring it back.”

The factory, which currently employs 125 people, has been scaling up since last August.

“It took us some time to scale the organization and scale the operation, and now we’re at a scale where it’s possible,” Reiss said.

The company recently took over the entire building, a former suit factory, as it prepares to continue growing its workforce.

The 95,000-square-foot facility is the fifth Canada Goose factory to open in Canada.

“We decided 20 years ago, when everybody else was going offshore, to stay ‘made in Canada’ and since then we’ve become an ambassador for Canada around the world,” Reiss said. “We’re really proud of that.”

The official opening comes the same day as the company announced it is opening a new distribution centre and storage facility in Scarborough, Ont.

“We’ve been able to build a business model that is very, very successful and sustainable while remaining in Canada,” Reiss said. “I think many years ago, companies didn’t believe that was possible and many of them felt they would have to go offshore to be able to compete. We did not agree with that.”

Canada Goose is increasingly selling directly to consumers, rather than going through wholesalers. It has opened retail stores in Toronto and New York and has announced plans to open additional stores in Chicago and London, England.

For Boisbriand Mayor Marlene Cordato, the plant is helping to increase the diversity of businesses and jobs in the city, which she says give local people the option to work closer to home instead of commuting to Montreal for work.

“It’s very important for us because when you bring jobs, then afterward you bring services,” she said. “It’s really the core of having a dynamic city.”