Many manufacturers have located in Sarnia-Lambton’s rural communities such as Corunna, Petrolia, Warwick, Oil Springs and Lambton Shores. These communities offer an affordable lifestyle leading to higher workforce retention, reduced training costs and improved quality through highly qualified and experienced staff.
Sarnia-Lambton’s location at the centre of the Great Lakes Industrial Corridor provides immediate access to key North American markets in central Canada and the central and eastern United States.
Lambton County is bisected by Highway 402, which runs eastward to London and Toronto and to the west connecting with Michigan’s Interstate 94/69/75 network via the international Blue Water Bridge.
The community is within one day drive to 65% of the U.S. market as well as major Ontario and Quebec markets.
Sarnia-Lambton is also connected to the US through the St. Clair Railway tunnel, which accommodates double stacked containers, and hosts CN’s second largest international rail yard in Canada, carrying more freight than any other U.S. – Canada border rail crossing.
Bordered by water and a link in the St. Lawrence Seaway system, Sarnia-Lambton is home to an international grain terminal as well as ship fueling and repair facilities.
Sarnia is home to the Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport, with direct flights from Sarnia to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Within approximately one hour drive from Sarnia is the Detroit International Airport, a Delta hub with access to all major U.S. cities and many international destinations. As well, the London Ontario International Airport and Bishop International Airport in Flint Michigan are each approximately a one hour drive from Sarnia-Lambton.
In addition to large multi-national petrochemical and refining complexes, there are a number of smaller manufacturing companies that leverage Sarnia-Lambton’s industrial infrastructure. The following are just some of the manufacturing companies that service local, North America, and international markets from Sarnia-Lambton.
Founded in 1981 by A.L (Sandy) Kennedy, Duststop Air Filters produces Canadian made air filters for residential and commercial forced air furnaces. Serving markets across North America, Duststop Air Filters is located in Petrolia, Ontario and employs 45 full time employees.
Penta TMR was established in 1995, initially rebuilding all makes and models of feed mixers. In 2000, production of the first Penta vertical mixer began in their facility in Petrolia. Today Penta produces a diverse array of feed mixers that are exported around the world, including Australia and Europe.
Rock Technical Solutions prides itself in metal fabrication and machining with the utmost in quality and workmanship. Rock can meet the most demanding customer’s needs from the beginning of the design process to the final product. Their full service metal fabrication shop includes all aspects of a project, including engineering, laser cutting and CNC machining as well as final installation. Rock Technical Solutions is located in Sarnia.
Intertec Instrumentation recently expanded their Sarnia manufacturing facility after moving from Milton in 2007. The newly expanded operation enhances Intertec’s ability to make custom field instrumentation shelters, cabinets and enclosures for the petrochemical industry. These field cabinets and shelters are often used to house process analyzers in oil fields of Alberta, Texas and Saudi Arabia.
Watford Roof Truss Ltd., (WRT) was established in 1972 and is one of the largest truss fabricators in Ontario. WRT is situated on ten acres of property, with 50,000 square feet of production facilities and a complete fleet maintenance shop. Well known for state of the art engineering and lean manufacturing expertise in the construction of engineered wood products, WRT is a leader in all Southwestern Ontario markets from Windsor to Toronto.
Creative Education is the manufacturer Great Pretenders, an award winning line of children’s costumes since 1989. Celebrating over 25 years and 25 awards, the team continues to excel in designing creative products that are size flexible, reversible, comfortable, and provide great value to customers. All products are fully tested to ensure compliance with all North American standards. Creative Education continues to manufacture over 70 products in North America.
Electricity is the driver of industry and Sarnia-Lambton has an extensive power infrastructure. Our community has over 2,300 MW of natural gas based electrical generating capacity, 120 MW of solar capacity and another 420 MW of proposed wind generation capacity. An additional 300 MW natural gas electrical generation station is currently in the early stages of construction.
Well known for pipelines that carry oil from western Canada, Sarnia-Lambton is also a hub for other pipeline infrastructure including those that supply natural gas. Union Gas’ Dawn facility is the largest underground natural gas storage facility in Canada, supplying much of the needs of eastern Canada.
Sarnia-Lambton has a large water distribution network that provides affordable water to communities throughout Lambton County. Lambton Area Water Supply (LAWS) is the main water distribution company, sourcing water from Lake Huron and distributing it to a number of municipalities in Lambton County (capacity of 181,844 m³/day). The Town of Petrolia operates their own water pipeline, storage facilities and water treatment plant in addition to LAWS.
In addition to traditional infrastructure, Lambton County has an extensive telecommunications infrastructure, delivering data services via traditional cable and DSL infrastructure as well as fibre. Throughout Sarnia-Lambton, Internet access exceeds 85% both in urban and rural areas. Some communities, including rural communities, have access to telecommunication services from multiple providers as well as fibre to the home services.