Lab expanding with $1M from NOHFC

Activation Laboratories continues to expand its Northwestern Ontario operations with the help of $1 million from the province.

Through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation’s Enterprises North Program, the Ancaster, Ont.-based company, Act Labs will be adding about 50 jobs to the 130 they already provide to the region through the expansion of their regional labs.
 
Act Lab president Eric Hoffman said Friday the $1 million support funding helped the company expand more into Northern Ontario at a much faster speed than they normally could have.

“We probably still would have expanded, but in a much slower pace over a number of years,” he said. “This basically has allowed us to mitigate our potential risk and speed up the process considerably and make the decision to expand in Northern Ontario rather than a different country.”

The mineral testing company has 27 labs in 12 countries.

There are four in Thunder Bay, one in Geraldton, Timmins and Red Lake and Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle (Lib., Thunder Bay-Superior North) announced a sample preparation laboratory is in the works in Dryden.
 
“This is a company that continues to grow and expand as a result of the partnership with the Heritage Fund,” said Gravelle. “This is a reflection of the exciting development of the mining sector in Northern Ontario and very much so in Northwestern Ontario.”