行业信息

The textile industry in Canada is made up of manufacturers involved in spinning yarn, manufacturing knit, woven, or non-woven fabrics, and finishing and coating. Carpet and rug manufacturers are excluded. "Textiles" refers to any material made from textile fibres. "Fabric" refers to a particular type of textile that goes through additional steps to become a finished product, ready to be transformed for a specified use.

In 2024, the textile industry had total revenues of $3,780 million. The quality and value of the finished textile depends on: the quality and type of raw materials; the character of the spun yarn and the character of the twisting; the density of the weave; and any finishing processes applied, including dyes and chemicals to make the textile stain resistant, wrinkle-free, fire resistant, or water repellant.

Inbound Logistics — Raw materials include natural fibres, synthetic fibres, thread, and yarns. Cotton and linen can be purchased directly from farmers or an intermediary. As many raw materials are commodities, farmers often enter into long-term agreements that provide protection against volatile prices and that are not tied to current market commodity prices.

Operations — Energy, significant amounts of water, and various chemicals are used in production. Skilled workers and researchers are required. As automation increases, the number of production employees and related wage costs decline. Key production steps include: Spinning, Interweaving (weaving, knitting/crocheting, braiding, felting, bonding), and Dyeing and Finishing.

Outbound Logistics — Textiles require utmost care in handling, packaging, and transportation. Most textiles are shipped in rolled form. Downstream manufacturers take the textiles and use them in the production of apparel, canvas products, curtains, and linens. Some downstream manufacturers are vertically integrated and produce their own textiles in-house.

Marketing and Sales — Mills use social media and websites to attract new business and attend industry trade shows. Direct selling develops longer-term customer relationships. Alternatively, mills may sell using a sourcing commission-based agent, making the selling process more efficient but creating no direct mill-customer relationship.

Support Activities — Procurement: long-term supply agreements to fix prices and guarantee supply. Technological Development: automation across spinning, weaving, dyeing, and quality control. Human Resources: skilled labour for equipment operation and R&D. Infrastructure: compliance with occupational health, safety, and environmental discharge regulations.

Raw materials include natural, synthetic, and recycled fibres. "Virgin fibres" refers to those not previously used to produce textiles. Input costs are volatile due to underlying commodity prices (cotton and oil); successful manufacturers mitigate this through long-term supply contracts. Larger competitors may vertically integrate to lower input costs.

Natural fibres include plant fibres (cotton, hemp, linen, jute, bamboo) and animal fibres (wool, silk, alpaca). Advantages: biodegradable, renewable, absorbent, strong, and durable. Disadvantages: can shrink and wrinkle, more expensive than synthetics. Within cotton, organic cotton is grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or GMOs. Demand for organic cotton is outpacing supply due to the three-year conversion period, during which farmers face lower yields and cannot sell at organic premium prices.

Synthetic fibres include chemically modified natural materials (e.g. rayon) and laboratory-produced polymers from petroleum byproducts (e.g. nylon, polyester, spandex, Kevlar). Advantages: easily dyed, longer lasting, stretchable, moisture and stain resistant. Critical disadvantage: not biodegradable; demand expected to decline as regulations and consumer preferences shift toward environmentally friendly materials.

Recycled fibres are derived from production scrap or post-consumer waste. Common types include recycled cotton, recycled polyester (from plastic bottles), recycled nylon, and recycled wool. Quality is preserved, making these textiles comparable to virgin fibre products.

Industry product segmentation by revenue: Finished and coated fabrics (22.0%), Canvas products (14.7%), Curtains and linens (11.8%), Fibre, yarn, and thread (10.1%), Non-woven fabrics (8.5%), Cords, straps, and belts (5.6%), Woven and knit fabrics (5.4%), Other textiles (21.9%).

Canvas products made from cotton and linen are sustainable options; demand is expected to increase. Woven and knit fabrics, primarily used for clothing, have declined due to offshore imports at lower prices. The cords, straps, and belts segment has also been declining due to less-expensive offshore production.

Voluntary international certifications carried out by third-party audits. Organic content certifications: GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) — requires at least 70% certified organic natural fibres, covers full value chain from harvesting through distribution; OCS 100 — verifies at least 95% certified organic materials; OCS Blended — verifies at least 5% certified organic material. All three apply to in-conversion organic cotton.

Recycled content certifications: GRS (Global Recycled Standard) — sets standards for percentage of recycled content, ensures responsible social and environmental practices; RCS 100 — verifies presence and percentage of recycled content in finished product; RCS Blended — tracks and verifies percentage of recycled raw materials through the supply chain.

Customers are generally downstream manufacturers or fabric retailers. Buyers purchase textiles based on price, shipping costs, and technical characteristics; a premium will be paid for higher quality and specialized textiles. Customer segmentation by revenue: Transportation manufacturers (42.6% — automobiles, boats, aircraft requiring seat belts, airbags, upholstery); Apparel manufacturers (31.6% — declining market as downstream manufacturers increasingly source from less-expensive offshore mills); Home furnishings manufacturers (13.9%); Other (11.9%).

Some larger downstream manufacturers may have their own in-house textile mills or sign long-term supply contracts. For cotton-focused mills, ideal customer contracts result in: committed customers enabling advance production planning; pricing that includes the cost of certifications; a fair and sustainable price that realistically shares risks and rewards along the value chain.

Because offshore apparel manufacturers can source fabrics from their local domestic mills at lower cost, Canadian mills cannot compete against less-expensive textile imports. Consequently, 75% of domestic demand for textiles is provided by imports, particularly from China and the United States. Most U.S. imports are for technical and home furnishing textiles.

Many Canadian manufacturers have concentrated on producing highly specialized textiles sold at premium prices. Successful mills have switched to value-added technical products requiring significant R&D — examples include geosynthetic textiles for civil construction and architectural sail-like fabrics for commercial buildings, airports, and stadiums. In 2023, Canadian textile mills exported $1.3 billion worth of product, primarily to downstream manufacturers in the United States.

The industry is highly fragmented with little overlap between products among Canadian mills. Differentiation is based on location, price, type, and quality. Barriers to entry are moderate — small mills require only low investments, but larger mills with more automation require significantly higher capital. For highly specialized technical products, patents provide legal protection.

Canada is party to CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement), which gives Canadian manufacturers the ability to export to the United States and Mexico under favourable terms. However, this trade agreement also gives U.S.-based manufacturers the ability to freely export to Canada, resulting in imports of technical textiles and home furnishing textiles from the United States likely increasing in the future and exports from Canadian producers generally decreasing.

Low-cost imports come primarily from China. Although most products made within this industry can be imported duty-free, some selected items attract a tariff ranging from 4% to 14%, depending on the product. These products include cotton sewing thread for the retail market, some yarns, some laces made from vegetable fibres, textile wall hangings, transmission belt textiles, tire cords, fire hoses, some ropes, and nets.

As companies expand into highly specialized, functional, and niche textiles, more R&D is required to create innovative and high-value products. There is also increased research on producing textiles from recycled fabrics to reduce environmental impact. It is paramount that companies protect their intellectual property (IP) related to their manufacturing processes using patents or trade secrets.

For a patent, the processes are clearly defined, a fee is paid, and the process is published. The patent gives the holder legal ownership for up to 20 years. Trade secrets are not published and have no legal protection — there is a higher risk that an employee will breach confidentiality or leave and the trade secret will be lost. It is also more difficult to sell or license trade secrets compared to patents.

"Next-generation" (next-gen) textiles are advanced textiles designed with new technologies to improve functionality, performance, or sustainability beyond traditional textiles. Automation replaces laborious, repetitive tasks, resulting in higher and more consistent quality, increased efficiency and productivity, and improved employee safety, while reducing employment opportunities. Automation is used in: spinning (consistent quality, reduced waste); weaving (complicated patterns woven without error); dyeing and printing (accuracy in colour and intricate designs); and quality inspection.

Data analytics and AI are used for: predictive maintenance to reduce downtime; real-time quality control by analyzing raw material properties, finished product characteristics, and defects; demand forecasting and inventory optimization; transportation and delivery optimization; identifying trends in customer preferences; and conserving energy and water consumption. Technology is also used to produce "smart" textiles integrated with electronic components that can regulate body temperature and monitor health indicators.

Cotton, wool, and silk are biodegradable and renewable; synthetic fibres can take up to hundreds of years to biodegrade. Environmentally conscious consumers will purchase items made from natural fibres rather than synthetics, when there is a choice. EU data: producing a single cotton shirt requires 2,700 litres of water; textile production is responsible for an estimated 20% of global clean water pollution; a single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibres into the environment; global textile production grew from 58 million tonnes in 2000 to 109 million tonnes in 2020, expected to reach 145 million tonnes by 2030.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) prepared a consultation document in 2024 detailing a roadmap for improving waste management across the textile value chain, with the goal of achieving a circular economy by requiring textiles to be more durable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable. The Canadian government is planning a federal plastics registry requiring producers to report on plastic products and end-of-life management, and is providing funding for research into reducing microfibre shedding and improving waste processing.

Key demand drivers: Spending on home furnishings — as interest rates decline and the economy improves, consumers spend more on home renovations and new furniture, increasing demand for furnishing textiles. Offshore production — increased offshore production increases price pressure on domestically produced textiles, reducing revenues for Canadian producers. Product specialization — exports of technical and home furnishing textiles will increase as offshore manufacturers do not produce these specialized fabrics. Vehicle demand — the automotive industry is a major buyer of technical textiles; demand increases or decreases proportionally. Construction — increased construction of office buildings, factories, power plants, and highways drives demand for technical textiles used in construction projects; this type of construction is expected to increase.

R&D into specialized/technical textiles is expected to increase. Next-gen textiles will incorporate advances in materials, functionality (anti-bacterial, temperature regulation), sustainability, and smart technologies for healthcare, firefighting, drug testing, and military applications. There will be increased competition from U.S. textile mills that have become more productively efficient by investing more in automation. Companies are investing in next-gen fibres made from environmentally sustainable vegan materials (non-plastic and non-synthetic), and using AI and robotics to process used clothing into polyester and cellulose threads through environmentally friendly chemical processes.

Innovative companies are investing in intelligent textiles using microelectronics and nanomaterials to incorporate sensors for biometric data in "smart" clothing. 3D technologies are being used to improve manufacturing and design. AI and data analytics are being used for quality control and predictive maintenance. Demand for certified organic cotton is increasing, with growing partnerships between cotton farmers and other supply chain parties. Inkjet printers are replacing block printing, enabling print-to-order production.

Commodity prices — Cotton and synthetic fibre costs are volatile; increases generally cannot be passed on to customers. Substitutes — Offshore import prices are significantly lower than similar domestically produced textiles; apparel manufacturers employing low-cost strategies will use these less-expensive materials, resulting in lower revenues for domestic producers. Changing customer preferences — As customer preferences change, the type of textiles currently manufactured may not meet the needs of customers. Availability of raw materials — Supply of natural fibres can be impacted by weather and other uncontrollable factors; insufficient supply may require stopping or reducing production.

Disruption of production lines — Breakdowns, maintenance, industrial accidents, mechanical failure, human error, or regulatory compliance issues can disrupt production; chemical spills could harm employees. Availability of skilled labour and experienced management — Insufficient skilled workers may delay production or require higher wages; lack of R&D scientists risks falling behind on innovation. R&D — Investment in R&D may not result in viable end products that have a market. Pollution and waste disposal regulations — New government regulations may require changes in how companies produce and sell their products, increasing costs. Technology — Risks related to commercializing next-gen textiles include environmental impact concerns, limited usefulness, negative consumer perceptions, and high production costs.