US industrial giant 3M to produce N95 masks at new Canada facility

US industrial giant 3M will make N95 respirator masks at an expanded facility in Canada for domestic use as well as for export, AFP reported.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 3M aims to ship masks from Canada to overseas, the report added.

“We will be able to cover domestic supplies,” he said, and because Canada has “never brought in limits or protectionist measures” masks will also be exported.

The AFP report added that Ottawa and the province of Ontario are providing Can$23 million (US$18 million) each to support 3M’s expansion of its Brockville, Ontario facility, while the company has agreed to supply 50 million N95 masks to Canada annually over five years.