Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered up $1.4 million to a Cambridge manufacturing company during his visit to Waterloo Region on Tuesday.
Ford toured Eclipse Automation which retooled its assembly line to produce N95 and surgical masks as well as other medical equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Eclipse will create capacity to manufacture up to one million N95 respirators per week and create 17 new full-time jobs here in Cambridge,” Vic Fedeli, minister of economic development, said during the announcement.
Ford is also scheduled to visit the Challenger facility in Cambridge and Shaver Industries in Kitchener, a company that is producing 25,000 face shields a week.
It is also making plastic shields for golf carts, which are designed to keep golfers apart while also allowing them to share golf carts.
The premier’s visits kicked off a province-wide tour which will see him visit communities across the province to meet with those who he said “stepped up over the past few months.
“We will showcase our strong local businesses who went the extra mile, whether it was making PPE for our front-line workers, keeping our supply chain strong or helping those in need,” Ford said.
“And we will recognize those community leaders, our mayors, our volunteers, our front-line heroes who have gone above and beyond during these unprecedented times.”