Element5, a North American leader in the design, fabrication, and assembly of mass timber buildings, officially opened a new state-of-the-art Glulam production line and expansion to its manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. As part of the government’s plan to build a more resilient forestry sector, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli announced that Ontario is providing $8 million in funding through the Invest Ontario fund towards the $107 million expansion.
Element5’s growth is reinforced by a strategic investment from parent company, the HASSLACHER group, one of Europe’s largest and most innovative timber producers, as well as by partnerships with federal and provincial governments.
The company is Ontario’s first certified manufacturer of cross-laminated timber, and the expansion more than doubles the size of the plant from 130,000 square feet to over 350,000 square feet.
The expansion also doubles the facility’s production capacity from 50,000 cubic meters annually to 100,000 cubic meters annually of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued-laminated timber (Glulam) products.
When the St. Thomas facility first opened in 2020, it stood on a greenfield site with just 15 employees. Less than five years later, the workforce has grown to 175 highly skilled professionals. The support from Invest Ontario will create an additional 150 jobs, growing the company’s workforce to over 325 employees.
Element5 is a mass timber producer offering a full range of structural engineering, modelling, production, and assembly.
