Hensall RV maker hopes to meet Canadian demand in the face of tariffs

While most businesses will be hurt by tariffs General Coach in Hensall hopes for an opportunity. CTV London's Scott Miller reports.

If you own an R-V, chances are good it was made in the United States.

“90 per cent of all recreation vehicles that are sold in Canada come from the United States,” said Roger Faulkner President of General Coach Canada in Hensall.

When retaliatory tariffs kick in next week, Faulkner says that he sees an opportunity.

“There aren’t a lot of Canadian manufacturers left in this country. Actually there’s only six of us across the country that manufacture R-V’s in Canada. Six of us are getting up on the right side of bed tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Our mindset is to turn it around to our advantage. For every adversity there is an opportunity. So we’re going to jump on that train.”

While modular homes, trailer homes, and movie set trailers are their core business, General Coach has also made travel trailers and R-V’s. Faulkner said they’ll now shift more production that way.

“We’re going to take advantage of that as quickly as we possibly can,” said Faulkner.

That may mean hiring more workers. Faulkner believes there is more than enough market demand to fill within Canada’s borders, and the clear movement by many to not visit or vacation south of the border helps as well. That “staycation” mentality is something Ontario tourism operators see as a potential “positive” tariff spin-off too.

“There’s kind of a movement to spend those recreation dollars, those tourist dollars within Ontario and within Canada,” said Huron Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Colin Carmichael. “We’re expecting for our tourism operators to not be as impacted negatively as some of our other sectors”

While there are some reasons for optimism, there’s no question that more Canadian businesses will be hurt by a trade war with our largest trading partner than helped.

However, for General Coach and Canada’s RV industry the tariff war may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

“We’re looking for opportunities. We didn’t ask for this one but it’s here. So might as well jump aboard,” said Faulkner.