The owner of Roustan Hockey Limited in Brantford is worried about U.S. tariff threats and what it could mean for the business.
The company was founded in Ayr in 1847. It moved to Brantford in 2019.
“We made all the hockey sticks early on for the NHL players in 1917 and we still have the sticks here. So the history of the business is crucial to the game of hockey,” said owner Graeme Roustan.
Roustan said it’s the only factory of its kind, producing hockey sticks in North America. He worries if tariffs are implemented, they might not be able to stay afloat as a business.
“And if this were to go, no other hockey stick factory would ever come back to North America in this scale because it’s just way too expensive of a capital investment to buy all the machinery,” said Roustan.
Larry Koabel has been working with the company since 1974 and said he feels pride when he sees some of their sticks at rinks.
“When I started in the business, there was lots of people making hockey sticks both in Canada and in the U.S. and now we’re the last man standing,” said Koabel.
Tariff troubles
Roustan said U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs is already impacting their sales.
“A lot of businesses in the U.S. have already reached out to us and said , ‘hold off on that order’ because if they ordered the sticks today and we deliver them in June, if there’s a tariff in place in June, they’re going to have to pay the extra tariff,” he said.
The company produces around 400,000 sticks annually. They also take orders for a number of brands found in rinks around the world.
If the stick says ‘Made in Canada’ then it was constructed in Brantford.
“Everybody is going to pay more for hockey sticks if this factory doesn’t survive,” said Roustan.
Roustan said now is the time that all governments step up and protect businesses. Otherwise, the owner worries, Canadian institutions like Roustan Hockey Limited will be a thing of the past.
