The impact of Trump's lies in Springfield, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio was once a manufacturing hub. Now, people know it for Trump's comments at September's presidential debate, when he famously - and falsely - told an audience of 67 million people that Haitians eat their pets, echoing claims that had circulated on social media.

Driving into the city that former U.S. president Donald Trump put on an international radar, there are signs that it has seen better days.

Springfield, Ohio was once a manufacturing hub. Now, people know it for Trump's comments at September's presidential debate, when he famously - and falsely - told an audience of 67 million people that Haitians eat their pets, echoing claims that had circulated on social media.

The local economy began to suffer when factories closed and jobs were slashed. The population plummeted. By 2015, it was down to just under 60,000, down from a high of 80,000 in the 1960s and 1970s.

This created a critical gap for CEO Ross McGregor, whose company, Pentaflex, builds safety related parts for trucks like brakes - some of which are also shipped to Canada.

The labour shortage was at its worst three years ago coming out of the pandemic, McGregor told CTV National News on the factory floor.

And when there weren't enough locals to meet employment needs, he relied on workers from the recently settled Haitian community, who arrived legally, and now represent about a quarter of Springfield's population.