(Above) A service truck built by Cottrill Heavy Equipment features a Canadian-made Brutus Truck Bodies service body. The Kincardine, Ont.-based company said growing interest in buying Canadian products has led it to strengthen relationships with domestic suppliers. Photo by Denise Faguy.
For many Canadian businesses, navigating today's geopolitical environment means adapting to new challenges, from tariffs and currency fluctuations to ongoing supply chain uncertainty.
For Matt Cottrill, owner and operator of Cottrill Heavy Equipment, those challenges have also created opportunities to strengthen relationships with Canadian suppliers and customers.
Based in Kincardine, Ontario, Cottrill Heavy Equipment has served customers since 1999. The company operates two locations in the community, with its Saratoga Road facility focusing on mechanical repairs, body work, blasting, painting, and parts sales, while its Queen Street location handles welding, fabrication, truck body installation, and steel sales.
The company works with a wide range of industries, including agriculture, and regularly builds grain trucks featuring grain boxes from Canadian manufacturer Cancade Company Ltd. of Brandon, Manitoba. It also builds service trucks equipped with bodies from Canadian supplier Brutus Truck Bodies in Penticton, BC.
According to Cottrill, rising costs linked to tariffs encouraged the company to take a closer look at domestic suppliers.
"When the tariffs created an increase in cost we shifted to searching for a more Canadian focus to support and work with. For example, we reached out to multiple Canadian companies with an interest in working with Brutus Truck Bodies located out of Penticton, British Columbia. Therefore, we have begun buying service bodies from Brutus for the service trucks we build," Cottrill told Farms.com in a recent interview.
That decision reflects a broader trend the company is seeing among customers across Ontario and beyond. Cottrill said municipalities and larger organizations are increasingly adopting purchasing policies that favour Canadian-made products and local suppliers where possible.
"We are finding that municipalities and the bigger cooperations have developed new policies to support local and purchase Canadian made as much as possible. Which is very much appreciated,” he pointed out, adding that, “We have also noticed that smaller businesses are being more cautious with their purchasing."
While cross-border business remains important, uncertainty surrounding tariffs, exchange rates and logistics has made it more difficult to predict costs and prepare accurate quotes for customers.
"It has become extremely challenging to forecast what the end cost will be once the product finally arrives. Therefore, customer quoting has become more difficult as it requires more stipulations in the quotes,” explained Cottrill. “Such as their may be more duties applied due to cross-border, currency fluctuations and product that may be more heavily tariffed."
Despite those challenges, Cottrill sees clear benefits in working with Canadian suppliers. In addition to supporting domestic businesses, he said that Canadian sourcing can help streamline supply chains and improve responsiveness.
"The advantage,” he related, “is that most have developed a stronger preference to work with companies within Canada. Supporting local/Canadian can also mean that the supplier chain may also move faster."
Looking ahead, Cottrill believes interest in sourcing Canadian products will continue to grow as businesses and customers seek reliable partners closer to home. Long-standing customer relationships and local connections remain an important part of the company's approach.
"We have always been fortunate to have long term, repeat customers and those that look to work with and purchase as close to home for them as possible,” said Cottrill. “We have always found that people find working with a local company has always provided a sense of support and comfort for customers in knowing exactly who they are working with.
“However,” he summed up, “I do believe that there is a growing interest in general for all in searching, sourcing and purchasing as Canadian as possible."
For company information, visit www.cottrill.ca.
NOTE: If you are a Canadian ag company that has also switched to Canadian suppliers, please contact Andrew.Joseph@farms.com.