Twenty-three business in Waterloo Region and Brant County will be getting a piece of almost $40.5 million in federal funding to help offset the financial difficulties caused by American tariffs. The Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, announced the investment on Thursday through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative and the Regional Defence Investment Initiative, a national project to support business’ growth and integration into domestic and international defence supply chains. The companies receiving the money include Armour Alloys, Ascension Automation Solutions, Bock North America, Canada Steel Corporation, Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation, Cello Products, Cravo Equipment, Eclipse Automation, Emtek Processed Alloys Inc., Fowler Metal Industries, Koolatron, LabsCubes, Massily North American, MW Canada, Navitas Vehicle Systems, NV Piping Systems, Qorsa Corporation, Quantum Valley Ideas Laboratories, SLACAN Industries, Trylon TSF, VueReal, Walters Inc. and XL Tool. The funding also includes an investment in XL Tool, a custom tooling and precision machining business, to help modernize operations there and expand their domestic technical capabilities. A news release from the federal government said that project will cost more than $4 million. FedDev Ontario will be contributing up to $1 million.
