Jobs Continuing to Leave Ontario; High Energy Prices to Blame

Toronto’s Leland Industries says it will no longer invest in Ontario due to high costs. 

QUEEN’S PARK – This morning, Ontario PC Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Critic Monte McNaughton reacted to the news that Toronto’s Leland Industries will no longer invest in Ontario, primarily due to high hydro costs.

“Leland Industries is just another example of a successful Ontario corporation that is being forced to make tough choices in order to continue growing and succeed. Through its own policies, this government is forcing Ontario success stories like Leland Industries to plan future expansions south of the border,” said McNaughton. “The painful reality is that this comes as no surprise – for years, Ontario residents, families, and job creators have been struggling with never-ending increases to their hydro rates. Shamefully, the Wynne government refuses to hear these concerns and has no credible plan for hydro relief.”

Leland Industries is a Toronto-based fastener manufacturer that employs 220 people at its two plants in Waterloo and Toronto. The company is planning a major expansion in production capacity in nearby Illinois because rising energy prices, coupled with incoming cap-and-trade costs, have made Ontario uncompetitive for further investment. Currently, energy prices in Illinois are about one-third of what they are in Ontario.

“Throughout the fall, I have been highlighting the efforts of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers, a group of small and medium-sized manufacturers located throughout Ontario,” said McNaughton. “Leland Industries is just one of many Ontario manufacturers who are eager to expand, wanting to hire more workers but are being forced to look outside of Ontario to the USA and Mexico instead of here at home. These are Ontario jobs that we’re being out-competed for. Jobs and investment that should be located here in Ontario but the Wynne government has completely blown it.”

Without a plan for creating jobs and growing the economy, skyrocketing hydro rates and a pro-business administration set to take the reins in the U.S., McNaughton knows Leland Industries will not be the last Ontario manufacturer forced to relocate south of the border.

“13 years of Wynne Liberal mismanagement is exactly why we have skyrocketing and unaffordable hydro rates here in Ontario, and it’s why we’re seeing Ontario success stories like Leland Industries being forced to plan future expansion in competing jurisdictions like the USA and Mexico,” summarized McNaughton. “It’s clear that life is harder under the Wynne Liberals.”