Canada’s last hockey stick factory survives in face of tariff threats, globalization

By Kelvin Chan
The Chronicle Journal
October 6, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada East

BRANTFORD, Ontario — In the Roustan Hockey production line, workers are busy shaping, trimming, sanding, painting and screen printing as they turn lumber into a Canadian national symbol. The 15 workers at Canada’s last major hockey stick factory, are located 100 kilometres southwest of Toronto. The operation has origins that date back to the 1800s and has survived decades of trade globalization to hang on as the last North American commercial manufacturer of traditional wooden hockey sticks. Now it’s facing fresh headwinds from the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump …Bo Crawford, the factory’s general manager, said shipments to the U.S. have been held up for manual inspections at the border, where they’ve been hit with surprise tariffs, which the company’s customs broker has managed to get waived. …CEO Graeme Roustan acknowledges that the wooden hockey stick market is not a growth industry and, at best, production will hold steady.

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