35 Coolest Things Made in Eastern Ontario

“Soup to nuts.” That’s how Todd Stafford of Northern Cables in Brockville explains the way his team does everything in-house. They handle it all, making their products from the ground up. Why? Because they know they can do it better, right here in Eastern Ontario.

They’re not alone. Many industries are currently plying their trade across the region. We have a wealth of innovative and energetic entrepreneurs running businesses that are creating both world-class products for the marketplace and jobs that power our economy.

And that’s a bit of a problem. Well, for us, anyhow. The sheer number of industries out there made it difficult to choose which ones to feature in this year’s edition of the Coolest Things Made in Eastern Ontario. We endured, though, so you can discover just some of the highlights that make this the coolest region for manufacturing in the province.

You’ll find juice with ingredients sourced from Senegal. Tubes for chili paste. Ice cream for Keto dieters. Millwork to be installed in the world’s most notable universities. A clear mask to battle COVID-19 currently being put through its paces in a wind tunnel. Gadgets that let us interact with the world without actually touching anything (go back a year and try to imagine something like that being a best seller). Hoops and backboards for professional athletes and school children. And last, but certainly a long way from least, maybe the best chocolate in the world.

Read on to explore the best of what Eastern Ontario manufacturing has to offer.

1 Fairy Sweet Ice Cream Cornwall

Ketogenic diet aficionados in Cornwall have a hometown option for sugar fixes. The mother-daughter team of Suzanne Martin and Sue-Ann Heitmann at the Fairy Sweet gourmet bakery offers special “Keto That” menu products for those cutting back on carbs, along with traditional chocolate and cake goodies. Keto-friendly delicacies include ice creams with just 2 grams of net carbs and fudgesicles with just 1 gram. The duo hopes to turn their operation into a full manufacturing facility within two years.

2 BUSL Cider Mallorytown

You may have heard of a craft brewery, but how about a craft cidery? The BUSL distillery in historic Mallorytown makes premium cider on their 280-acre estate that includes a 10-acre apple orchard and a processing plant with a boutique tasting room and patio. Flavours are added so you can enjoy unique beverages like Chocolate Cherry, Pumpkin and Peaches N' Cream. BUSL also converted some of its line to hand sanitizer during the pandemic earlier this spring, to do its part to keep the community healthy.

3 Eikon Device Kingston

From humble beginnings in a garage in 1994, Eikon Device has grown to become one of the largest suppliers of the ever-expanding tattoo industry. Now the company has over 40 employees who design and assemble the majority of the Eikon-branded tattooing hardware like power supplies, machines and cords in a 20,000 square foot facility. A new product is the ES500, released earlier this year with a range of innovative features to help power the drawing of the next anchor you want emblazoned on your bicep.

4 E.T.M. Industries Renfrew

E.T.M. Industries has come a long way since its beginnings in 1977 as a tool-and-die shop. The company now serves a wide range of industries across the world, manufacturing computer numeric control (CNC) machined and plastic injection components for the aerospace, military, automotive, telecommunication, medical and mining industries. Molds are all custom-made, so E.T.M. provides full turn-key service for clients.

5 Beckwith Street Reconstruction Smiths Falls

Smiths Falls is continuing its renaissance and economic recovery with a reconstruction of Beckwith Street in the downtown core. The first phase of this $8.2 million project began in 2019 and will continue into 2021. Everything from the 19th century sewers to the roadway and sidewalks will be replaced. Work above ground will be more than just cosmetic. The fully accessible street will feature three travel lanes, angled parking, a cycle lane and new trees intended to make the entire downtown, in the words of Mayor Shawn Pankow, “a new and attractive streetscape that is welcoming… and functions in ways that were not possible prior to this development.”

6 Faye Beverage/Jogo Juice Ottawa

Enjoy a taste of Africa right in the National Capital thanks to Faye Beverage. Senegalese native and University of Ottawa student Marie Pierre Faye has her sights set as high as Coca-Cola as she builds her company around the flagship product Jogo Juice. This traditional drink, made from authentic hibiscus flowers from Senegal, is better known in Africa as bissap and in the Caribbean as sorrel. Called “Jogo” from an amalgam of Faye’s parents’ names, this beverage is now available online and at seven locations in Ottawa. More new flavours are on the way by the end of 2020.

7 Five Mile Lighthouse 1000 Islands

Kehoe Marine Construction took on the unique engineering challenge of rebuilding the historic Five Mile Lighthouse on the St. Lawrence River, off the shores of Elizabethtown-Kitley Township. After a lightning strike burned the original structure to the ground in 2018, former senator Bob Runciman chaired a group that raised over $200,000 and recruited Kehoe in nearby Lansdowne to take on the project. Kehoe was more than up to the task of recreating the river icon, despite stringent requirements to match the appearance of the original and elevate it due to rising water levels. The new/old lighthouse was finished this September.

8 Ground Soap Cornwall

From the kitchen to the factory, Ground Soap has come a long way in just under a decade. Partners Angela Youngs and Glenn Forrester jokingly call their organic products “hippie soap,” but they’ve become a retail force in over 200 stores across Canada, the US and Europe. The full product line includes 10 different lines featuring 15 different essential oils such as invigorating peppermint and spicy cinnamon.

9 HFI Pyrotechnics Domville

One of the Canadian leaders in pyrotechnics expects to double production and add 15 jobs in 2021 thanks to the national Munitions Supply Program (MSP), which qualifies the firm as a trusted supplier to the Canadian military. HFI Pyrotechnics, located on a 500-acre production and testing facility, will now manufacture military search and rescue markers, like the C8 Smoke Grenade, that help the Canadian military locate people in dangerous situations. It also makes similar products for the US Navy. HFI began as Hands Fireworks, which started lighting up skies in 1873.

10 Hovey Industries Ottawa

Reinvention and innovation have been themes at Hovey since 1979. The custom metalworking manufacturer is doing it again with Tempered Steam. This new product, currently at the prototype stage with plans to go into production in 2021, uses steam to thaw the ground for construction projects. Given the Canadian climate, this gear will come in handy over the winter months when breaking ground is a challenge for even the mightiest backhoes. Company president Marco Campagna says the concept goes back 20 years to technology that used steam to de-ice the wings of planes, but was given more of a push when frozen fields at Lansdowne Park needed to be dug up in the winter when the site was redeveloped in 2013-2014.

11 Hummingbird Chocolate Almonte

From Kabul with… chocolate? Many would say that’s as good as love, and the phrase rings true with Drew and Erica Gilmour, who returned to Almonte from working with agricultural development in Afghanistan and turned an affection for the sweet stuff into Hummingbird Chocolate. The couple certainly is obsessed with making the best chocolate on Earth. The planet has noticed, too, resulting in over 85 international awards including the 2016 Best Chocolate in the World Golden Bean from the Academy of Chocolate. They offer factory tours (COVID-dependent, of course), and you don’t even need a golden ticket to see all this sugary goodness for yourself.

12 InnovaTools Ottawa

InnovaTools is living up to its name. The home construction manufacturer pivoted to PPE innovation and started an InnovaLife brand during the pandemic. When the federal government issued a call for masks to combat COVID-19, founder Alexandre Cloutier and his team responded with a clear plastic mask that is reusable, easy to clean and flexible enough to be folded into a shirt pocket. The masks were accepted into the Innovative Solutions Canada program, and as of mid-September the first prototype was being field-tested in a wind tunnel by the RCMP. Work continues on other product lines as well, including a new portable bending brake entering the prototype phase over the coming winter.

13 Ketchum Manufacturing Brockville

When you want to tell the world who you are, talk to the good people at Ketchum. The metal-stamping and printing factory has been making ID tags for all manner of industries going back to its 1913 beginnings in Ottawa. Ketchum can be found everywhere, from the price displays in Farm Boy stores and the tags on your golf bag to the dog licence hanging from your dog’s collar. The company also took on COVID-19 this year by manufacturing custom clear plastic shields for retail store counters.

14 Kingcord Hammocks Lansdowne

Nothing says summer in Canada as properly as a hammock. Kingcord Hammocks makes instant relaxation in the village of Lansdowne just a stone’s throw away from the 1000 Islands. Deluxe soft-spun cord hammocks in traditional and colourful Mayan styles are crafted by hand in the company’s workshop, in both original rope and fabric. Many options comfortably host two or even three people, perfect for cooler nights when you need to cuddle up.

15 King’s Lock Craft Distillery and Windmill Brewery Johnstown

Fine organic spirits and beers can be found along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. The family operation has won 14 medals in the Canadian Artisan Spirits and San Francisco World Spirits Competitions in just the past three years, including gold for its Whiskyjack Rye and silver for its 1000 Islands Moonshine. Beer on offer includes the 1838 Pilsner and the Barracks Black Lager. A history lesson is free of charge as you imbibe, as most product names evoke local history like the Battle of the Windmill, the site of which is just moments away.

16 Li-Cycle Kingston

Making electric vehicles (EV) even more green is the mission of Li-Cycle. The innovative company developed a hydrometallurgy technology that recycles lithium-ion batteries powering everything from EV cars to smartphones. A pilot workshop was established in 2019 to recycle batteries that would have otherwise wound up in landfills. They recover a previously unheard of 80 to 100 per cent of the cobalt, lithium, nickel and other substances and prepare the batteries for reuse. 

17 LINC Contactless Tool Ottawa

COVID-19 turned out to be the mother of invention for machine shop operations manager Troy Crosby. Inspired by a desire to help during the lockdown, Crosby designed the contact-free LINC tool to open doors and navigate shared spaces. In short order, he developed a prototype with a 3D printer and began work on the final product. LINC hit its Kickstarter goal in September within 16 minutes. Full production is now underway, so you’ll soon be able to buy your own LINC on the official website and Amazon.

18 Mirmil Products Trenton

Casinos in Atlantic City and universities like Harvard and Yale have a little bit of Trenton in them, thanks to Mirmil Products, which designs and manufactures custom architectural millwork for nightclubs, lounges, lecture halls, libraries and more. Some of the company’s other major clients include Woodbine Racetrack and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, the Hard Rock Casino in Florida, and the MGM Casino in Massachusetts.

19 Montebello Packaging Hawkesbury

From chili paste in a tube to foot powder in an aerosol can, Montebello Packaging does it all. Chances are good that you’ve used some of their aluminum and laminate tubes, cans, bottles and other packaging, because they house huge brands like L’Oréal & Arm and Hammer. Montebello has you covered whether you’ve got a craving for something spicy, need relief for your feet, or are Chris Hadfield grabbing a snack in orbit (yes, even Canada’s most famous astronaut has eaten out of a tube made in Eastern Ontario).

20 Northern Cables Brockville

Soup to nuts. That’s how Todd Stafford of Northern Cables describes the inner workings of the company he co-owns, which manufactures industrial cables from raw plastic, aluminum and copper. A $5 million expansion has started, adding three new buildings, including a 50,000 square foot warehouse and massive silos to house plastic. Hiring is already underway, and at least 20 new jobs will be created for the new buildings and the millions of dollars of new production machinery they will house.

21 Octane Medical Group Kingston

Bioreactors, regenerative bioprocesses, cell therapy automation and more are the domain of Octane. This medical tech company has one foot firmly planted in the future, due largely to its work on bioactive implants to accelerate healing. As one example of how it works, these implants can be placed in an injured foot in need of orthopedic repair to rev up a bioactive process that creates natural tissue. Patients experience faster healing that reduces or eliminates the need for artificial metal or polymer implants.

22 Parmalat Canada Winchester

Winchester’s signature summer festival is a cow-centric Dairyfest, but you may still be surprised at just how much is manufactured at the Parmalat Canada facility (known as Ault Foods for many decades). Milk, cheese, butter, cream and more are made for leading brands like Balderson, Beatrice and Lactantia. They also craft high-end delicacies like award-winning extra-old cheese.

23 PowerStick Ottawa

PowerStick is an award-winning firm that designs and assembles many of its products in its facility in the national capital. One of the hottest products is the Forte, a combination wireless charger and speaker able to pump up the volume for a whopping 15 hours. 

24 Pure Ingenuity Kingston

Making the better beer may be the job of the craft brewery, but making the better brewery is the job of Pure Ingenuity. The Kingston firm is actually moving beyond just breweries, as well, with custom designs and equipment for the food, pharmaceutical and medical industries. If you have a process that uses stainless steel, you may want to talk to Pure Ingenuity. Artists can reach out too — the company helped fabricate and install Bill Lishman’s massive stainless steel iceberg sculpture at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa back in 2015.

25 Quinte Canvas Manufacturing Westbrook

Bimini tops for summer and canvas covers for winter storage are just two of the products stitched up for boaters at Quinte Canvas Manufacturing in Westbrook, just north of Kingston. Custom upholstery and canvas work is another focus in the shop, which prides itself on solutions for all nautical problems. Winter protection is a major focus, thanks to proprietary Arctic Guard canvas material designed in-house to protect your summer home from the worst that a Canadian winter can throw at it.

26 Reid’s Dairy Belleville

Just look for the fairy-tale tower. A Belleville tradition since 1910, and home of an iconic medieval castle, Reid’s Dairy is not only the place to get ice cream and chocolate milk, it’s also a 50,000 square foot operation that supplies milk across Ontario. Reid’s is the largest indie milk producer in the province, working with dairy farmers all over Eastern Ontario. Tours are offered so you can check out the plant, the castle and outdoor play area in person (check first, due to COVID restrictions). Don’t forget to grab a Loonie Shake or three from the shop.

27 Ridgewood Cornwall

Move over, Ikea. The locals at Ridgewood have quietly become one of the top 10 producers of ready-to-assemble furniture in North America. More than 350 employees in the 550,000 square foot factory make items in the home office, kitchen, entertainment and storage product lines for brands like Ameriwood and Costco.

28 SnapCab Kingston

Innovation and simplification are the hallmarks of SnapCab, which has turned over 30 years of making elevators into creating modular workspaces at its Kingston factory. The company’s patented interlocking panel system, along with heavy aluminum structural supports, allows clients to quickly set up pods in offices. The end result looks like a sleek and elegant take on a futuristic phone booth that provides instant privacy amidst open-concept office spaces.

29 Spearhead Brewing Company Kingston

The Spearhead Brewing Company is a little bit world-class brewery, a little bit science experiment. A partnership with Pure Ingenuity, another Kingston company, has led to the company using cutting-edge beer gear like multi-chambered filtration and crash-cooling fermentation tanks that, according to president Josh Hayter, “gives us everything the big brewers have, just shrunken down and efficient.” Spearhead also gives back to the community by donating spent grain to farmers, recycling can tabs for wheelchairs, and making regular donations to Hospice Kingston and Loving Spoonful. So when in the Spearhead taproom, you can enjoy a fine IPA and do a good deed.

30 SportSystems Almonte

Almonte may be famous as the birthplace of basketball inventor James Naismith, but SportSystems is giving the guy with the peach baskets a run for his money. The company designs, manufactures and installs custom equipment for just about anything in a gymnasium. This includes basketball hoops and backboards, tennis posts and nets, soccer goals, gym divider curtains, floor padding, and bleachers for spectators. SportSystems installs can be found everywhere, from Inuvik to Barbados and the US Virgin Islands.

31 SRB Technologies Pembroke

Looking for the exit? Look no further than Pembroke’s SRB Technologies, world leader in self-powered emergency lighting and exit signs. Luminexit and Betalux-E models light the way out of hotels, theatres and other public buildings all over the world. SRB is keeping us safe during the pandemic as well, with the production of up to 10,000 Health Canada-licensed face shields per week. The company has shipped face shields to over 115 institutions across Canada.

32 Tazarmc Constructability Solutions Trenton

Many buildings across Ontario got their start in the metal fabrication facility of Tazarmc Constructability Solutions. Their steel division can crank out 320 tonnes of structural steel per month, making the beams and columns to support builds like a health centre in Sudbury and a water treatment plant in Mississauga. Tazarmc also fabricates other metals for hand rails, catwalks and more, offering solutions for all things alloy.

33 Weatherhaven Brockville

One of the world leaders in manufacturing deployable shelter systems for military, medical and commercial purposes is now located in Eastern Ontario. Their structures, made with ultra-modern materials, which can be set up and taken down quickly, are designed to withstand the toughest environments. Weatherhaven products have been deployed to over 95 counties on every continent. Headquartered in Coquitlam, BC, since the company’s beginnings in 1981, the new facility opened in the west end of Brockville in 2019 when a deal with the Canadian military required a location close to Ottawa.

34 Wirecraft International Renfrew

Gardeners across North America are hanging their plants on trellises made in Renfrew. Wirecraft International’s 100,000-square-foot factory makes just about everything in metal for plant lovers, including trellises, garden hooks, planters and baskets. Their products are sold at major retailers like Home Depot and Walmart, so they are available to any Canuck with a green thumb.

35 Wood Duck Manufacturing Renfrew

Quality Canadian-made furniture is the specialty of Wood Duck Manufacturing in Renfrew. What started with custom fireplace mantels over 25 years ago evolved into custom furniture in 2003, and now the Wood Duck team crafts cabinets, tables, wall units and more to customer specification. Fireplace mantels remain the company’s core business, though. If you’re looking for traditional, modern or something in-between for just about anything in your home that burns wood or gas, Wood Duck makes it.