Mask makers mull future as pandemic mandates drop

Tina McLarty made so many face masks, she blew the motor on her sewing machine.

"I had to get a new one. It actually had black smoke inside of it."

At her peak, McLarty was making 15 or 20 cloth masks an hour, holed up in her Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., home sewing "seven in the morning till 11 o'clock at night." She donated them to the hospital, sold them to family and friends, and raised $10,000 for local charities.

But business has dried up. She's got an eight-foot table at home, stacked with dozens of unsold masks, spanning the colour spectrum, with ones for every holiday. She's even lowered her price from $5 to two — and they still aren't selling.

She's not very optimistic. After all, Ontario is ending mask mandates in most public settings Monday, though keeping them in place at health-care facilities like long-term care homes, and on public transit, in shelters and jails. 

While the future of mask sales is uncertain for smaller and homemade producers, there's still a need — particularly for medical masks or respirators, which Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam recommended switching to late last year.

Many have since moved on from cloth masks. McLarty believes she's done making hers.

"I've sewed enough masks for my lifetime."

Ontario joins Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Yukon — all have already dropped most masking requirements. Nova Scotia also ends its mandate Monday.

Mandatory masking, which has been in place continuously for all of Ontario since July 2020, made for a booming new industry.

Electrical engineer Andrew Mason even quit his day job with California audio-visual giant THX after starting Canada Strong Masks, which develops and sells them.

Mason, who runs the business out of Orangeville, Ont., northwest of Brampton, said sales have dropped significantly from their January Omicron-fuelled peak, which saw up to 8,000 orders a day. Now, his team of eight sends out 400 to 800 packages a day.

He's feeling sad about the mandate ending, especially for those who are vulnerable — and takes issue with Ontario's lack of testing and data.

"It seems like pure political calculus at this point to drop the mask mandate. The evidence is all pointing in the other direction where we should maintain the masks for a bit longer."