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The packaging line at South Shore’s factory in Sainte-Croix, Que. The company announced on Monday it is shutting down its operations.Renaud Philippe/The Globe and Mail
South Shore Furniture, one of Canada’s major furniture makers, is shutting down operations as it buckles under trade pressure.
The company said it could not continue in the face of dumping by rivals from China and Vietnam, which has lowered prices. It also cited the effect of U.S. import tariffs, which has hurt its own sales into the country and redirected Asian exports slated for the U.S. to less restrictive markets like Canada.
“For Canadian manufacturers such as South Shore Furniture, demand has just simply vanished on both sides of the border,” the company said in a news release Monday. Its own sales have dropped 77 per cent between 2022 and 2025, it said.
South Shore, based in Sainte-Croix, Que., makes ready-to-assemble furniture including dressers, beds and nightstands as well as bookshelves. The company, founded and owned by the Laflamme family, has been in business for 86 years.
The manufacturer said it will shut down its plants in Sainte-Croix and Coaticook, Que., gradually over the next several weeks. Its 126 employees were told of the decision Monday morning.
“We tried everything to maintain our operations and their jobs but it’s become impossible to pursue our business in a market where the World Trade Organisation rules are not respected,” said Charles Laflamme, general manager.
The decision is yet more proof that U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war is having far-reaching consequences that are hurting the fabric and lifeblood of Canadian communities. In Sainte-Croix, a town of 2,700 people, South Shore is one of two major employers.
It’s also yet another hit to companies involved in wood product production. Quebec’s Dorel Industries Inc. and B.C.’s Prepac Manufacturing both stopped making furniture in Canada last year, citing the need to reshape operations.
Earlier this month, the Canadian government launched a trade inquiry into several manufactured wood products with the aim of protecting domestic producers from a surge in foreign competition. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will conduct a safeguard inquiry into global imports of cabinets and vanities, solid and engineered wood flooring, and storage furniture.
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South Shore informed its 126 employees on Monday of its decision to end operations.Renaud Philippe/The Globe and Mail
The Canadian Wood Products Alliance, an industry group that was established to lobby Ottawa for protection, is pushing for Ottawa to immediately implement provisional tariffs on foreign-made goods entering Canada. It says that’s necessary to prevent a stockpiling of product in Canada and to avoid more layoffs in the coming months while the inquiry runs.
“The investigation alone will not be sufficient to provide the immediate relief and stability our industry needs, and to protect the tens of thousands of Canadians who depend on it,” the group said in a statement Monday.
“The consequences for the industry are real, and they are already happening. Jobs have been lost, family-owned businesses have shut their doors, and communities are under increasing strain – and more will follow if Canadian manufacturers are forced to wait.”
Jean Laflamme, chairman of South Shore Furniture, said most of the raw materials going into the company’s furniture come from the Quebec wood industry.
“If we don’t protect that value chain, from the forest to the finished product, we will lose it for good,” Mr. Laflamme said in a statement Monday. “I urge decision makers to seriously consider this reality, which risks causing further closures, and to act quickly using the legal tools at their disposal to help an entire ecosystem that supports tens of thousands of jobs.”
