The border closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create problems for the manufacturing industry, according to a new survey.
The survey is an update of one completed in December 2020.
The losses caused by the border closure are in multiple millions, as uncovered by the survey from the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association (CTMA), in conjunction with the Canadian Association of Moldmakers (CAMM), Automate Canada, and the Niagara Industrial Association.
Among those surveyed, 87 per cent of respondents reported quarantine orders for employees, and difficulty with visitors denied entry into Canada. Only 70 per cent of respondents reported these issues in December. The survey also showed that 69 per cent of companies interviewed had lost contracts because of the border closure.
The survey also showed that almost two-thirds of respondents reported a negative financial impact during the border shutdown.
A total of 91 manufacturing firms participated in the new survey, up from 39 in December, an increase that CAMM President Jeanine Lassaline-Berglund found telling.
"It’s clear from the increased participation in the survey that the issues at the border have left manufacturers with high risk for current contracts and potentially irreversible damage to customer relationships," said Lassaline-Berglund in a media release.
Eighty per cent of the commerce in question is accounted for at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge, with the rest including Pearson Airport in Toronto, and crossings in Sarnia, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, and Cornwall.
Sophia De Luca, Operations Manager of the Niagara Industrial Association, said the border control guidelines do not take into account the actual financial losses felt by manufacturers.
"The current restrictions governing travel across the Canadian-U.S. border do not fully acknowledge or consider the growing concerns among manufacturers," said De Luca. "These survey results provide further evidence to suggest that such restrictions need to adopt more specific guidelines that recognize circumstances for safe, and timely travel of manufacturers, technicians, or specified service workers across the border for maintenance of ongoing industrial projects."
The CAMM is based in Windsor.