Update:
The provincial and federal government have announced they will partner with 3M Canada to expand its Brockville manufacturing facility in order to produce made-in-Ontario N95 respirators.
Both levels of gvoernment are investing $23.33M to support 3M's capital investment of $70M.
The five-year agreement will provide Canada with 50 million respirators annually beginning in early 2021.
The project is also expected to create 30 jobs in Brockville.
Original story:
Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are slated to make a joint announcement at 1 p.m. today in Brockville.
They are expected to announce the provincial and federal government's securement of an agreement with 3M that will see the company produce N95 masks at a facility in Brockville.
Reports suggests Ottawa and the province will each contribute $23.3 million to help increase capacity at the Brockville plant, allowing it to produce up to 100 million N95 masks a year.
This will be the second domestic contract to produce N95 masks, after Quebec-based Medicom signed a 10-year agreement to supply N95 and surgical masks to the federal government in April.
Medicom's combined contracts are worth more than $113 million, and include providing 24 million surgical masks and 20 million N95 respirators each year.
Ford has repeatedly said the province needs to ramp up its own production of personal protective equipment in light of the pandemic.
Ford and Trudeau will be joined by Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli, and MPP Steve Clark, as well as the federal Minister of Public Services Anita Anand.
Village Media will carry the livestream, so stay tuned.
