The expansion of a southwestern Ontario advanced wood products manufacturing plant is being bolstered by the provincial government.
The province is pitching in with a $3.46-million contribution to help Element 5 fund a substantial $100-million addition to its St. Thomas plant.
The company is a pioneering mass timber producer in the Ontario that specializes in the design, manufacturing and assembly of modern engineered wood-framed buildings. Element produces cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue laminated (glulam) timber for the North American market.
The company has a Northern Ontario connection.When it was founded in Ripon, Que. in 2015, it partnered with White River Forest Products to create a harvesting site-to-factory floor supply chain.
Construction on the original St. Thomas plant began on 40 acres of land in the city’s north end in 2019, opening a year later with a 130,000-square-foot facility.
This past June, Element 5 held the groundbreaking ceremonies for the start of construction of a new glulam plant which will increase its footprint from 130,000 square metres to more than 350,000 square metres with capacity for more than 50,000 cubic metres of glulam. The workforce will jump from 100 to more than 200 employees when the new line goes into production in the first half of 2025.
Last February, Austria’s HASSLACHER Group, considered a European technology leader in wood processed, came aboard as a strategic investor with an unspecified amount to fund the highly automated glulam line.
The plant expansion is expected to meet the rising demand for mass timber construction materials, which is expected to rise 10 to 25 per cent annually for the next decade.
The growing popularity of mass timber for modular and prefabricated construction fits the bill of the Ford government and its vision of building 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031.
The building method used in mass timber construction allows for prefabricated factory-made housing components to be easily transported in sections to a building site and assembled in modular form. In many cases, smaller buildings can be easily and rapidly constructed within a matter of days.
Earlier this year, the province further incentivized the home-grown mass timber industry by making amendments to the building code to allow these wood buildings to reach 18 storeys.
"The ongoing support from the province is a cornerstone of Element5’s strategic planning,” said Element 5 president-CEO Patrick Poulin in an Ontario government news release. “More importantly, it reflects our shared vision to position Ontario as a leader in advanced wood construction and manufacturing, not only in Ontario, but across Canada and North America. This vision aligns seamlessly with our collective goals around intelligent natural resource use, affordable housing, and responsible environmental impact."
Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli called Element5 “an Ontario success story” that’s a leader in the construction sector. “We congratulate them on their expansion in St. Thomas, which will create new opportunities for local workers and reinforce Ontario’s reputation for manufacturing innovation in the growing field of advanced wood construction."
