New spaces are matching growth at Barrie’s Canplas Industries.
Just more than a year ago, a 75,000-square-foot warehousing expansion was announced at 500 Veterans Dr., bringing its size to about 275,000 sq. ft., in the city’s south end, early in 2024.
“As our business grew, it was necessary to have more distribution space for our main production facilities right here in Barrie,” said Canplas president Rich Schlieker.
“It does not have any space for the storing of goods, so this is our main distribution centre for all of our business in North America — primarily servicing Canada and more specifically customers in eastern Canada, and we have a satellite location in Edmonton, Alta., that helps support the western customers," he added.
Canplas, which has been in Barrie for 52 years, manufactures high-quality plumbing, ventilation, central vacuum and grease separation products for residential and commercial buildings throughout not only North America, but also New Zealand, Latin America and the United Kingdom.
In January 2023, Canplas also announced plans to build a new 24,000-sq.-ft. loading dock at its Patterson Road facility, near Tiffin Street and Highway 400, an addition to the existing 166,000-sq.-ft. building.
Schlieker said this project is in the building permit application stage, but work will soon begin.
“The paperwork is all done, I think we’re ready to go and looking at starting in 2025,” he said.
Canplas Industries employs about 270 people in Barrie, Schlieker said.
