Canadian Manufacturing & Sourcing

Overseas product sourcing is one of the most prosperous ways to launch and scale your business but has its own challenges. We’ve been helping companies across North America successfully buy and import from overseas for over 35 years.

Since 1991, we have been sourcing machined parts of a wide variety including castings, CNC machined parts, forgings, and injection molded parts. We also work with wood items, golf products, and textiles.

Many Canadian companies we’ve helped have struggled in the past from their own attempts at sourcing from overseas. The most common challenges they have come across are supplies with poor quality control, language and cultural barriers, and unreliable suppliers.

China has more than 1.4 billion people, so with that you can find factories that make varying levels of quality. This is why it is so important to know who you are dealing with and have boots on the ground in China if you are going to import from there. Global Trade Specialists can be your boots on the ground and vet the factories so you know for certain who you’re dealing with, getting the best possible quality of products for your business.

Why Source From China?

  • Proximity to Canada – One of the aspects that is largely unique to Canada is that despite being one of the largest countries in the world, it has very few neighboring countries. China’s closeness to Canada gives it quicker shipping times and lower costs compared to more distant countries.
  • Economic Openness – China and Canada have had few to no tariffs on each other compared to other countries. This stability keeps trade flowing and the supply chain strong between them, and gives a stronger economic edge in an ever shifting global economy.
  • Industrial Capacity – China has the largest manufacturing base in the world, allowing them to pump quantities in mass volume. Their manufacturing hubs allow them to concentrate and specialize in their capacities, and they can produce just about anything.

Import from China, Hassle-Free

Our Process: From Napkin Sketch to Finished Product

We start with an initial consult call to understand where you are at with your product, and what approach will be best for you. If you are just starting out and need help with designing.

We are able to help businesses at any stage they are at with their products. Our engineering contacts can get you DFM (Design for Manufacturing) files made. These files are blueprints for factories to follow in making your part. They’ll include aspects like the tolerances, color, finish, and radii, hole sizes, and any other information necessary to make your part to spec.

Chinese manufacturers typically prefer 2D PDFs with these dimensions and callouts, and 3D models called CAD files (Computer Aided Drafting) in .step format.

After these are finished, we can help you get a prototype quote from overseas, at a cost savings of 50-70%.

We recommend getting the engineering done with a western engineer, and do the product prototyping overseas. Chinese engineers don’t know Canadian government standards and regulations, and its difficult to communicate complex product ideas with a language barrier and culture barrier on top of that.

Product Testing & Quality Control

After you have a finished design and a prototype, the next step is to test your product and make sure it is exactly as you want it. You should thoroughly test it, and show it to your potential customers to get their feedback on it.

Its not uncommon for products to go through a few revisions before they are good and ready to mass produce, so don’t be disappointed if your first prototype isn’t perfect.

From there we help by taking those designs to our partners overseas. They go directly to the factory and provide a quote for you. We have been working with these companies for decades.

They have their own networks of factories to choose from, and take the greatest of care with vetting new factories. They’ll make sure that they have the equipment to make your part. They’ll also check the quality control processes the factory has in place to ensure that there won’t be issues with the parts when they are ready to ship.

Our quotes come with a sample cost so you can see the production quality before moving forward with an order.

Why Canadian Businesses Work With Us

Running a business in Canada means balancing costs, quality, and shipping timelines.

Global Trade Specialists (GTS) has been helping Canadian companies from Vancouver to Halifax source from China and Europe for over 35 years. We manage the entire process — from sample production, to mass production, to shipping, so you don’t have to.

Doing business in China is much different than in western countries. Their culture, including their business culture, is much more focused on relationships than outcomes. In the west we typically have a much more direct way of doing business, in China, they want to get to know you before proceeding.

This process, called “guanxi” in Chinese, takes time. At Global Trade Specialists we have spent decades building guanxi with our supplier which gives us better pricing, flexibility, and quicker resolutions in the case there are problems with an order.

Products We Source

Metals

We can source most things made out of a wide range of metals. This includes titanium, aluminum, steel, alloys, bronze, copper, and more. We’ve made products for nearly every industry including children’s toys, industrial equipment, medical equipment, sports, aerospace, and can find factories that have the certifications you need.

Wood

We can source many types of wood products from all the commonly available type of wood including softwoods, hardwoods, and engineered wood.

We have access to suppliers that can make custom wood products including furniture, phone cases, decorative pieces, and frames.

Textiles

Our sourcing capabilities include a variety of textiles ranging from knitted, woven and nonwoven, and felted products. We have access to manufacturers that produce blankets, clothing, tarps, sheets, curtains, anything you need.

Electronics

China is a good option to source most electronics, high complexity items like graphic cards, pcs, and cell phones are harder to custom manufacture there. We can source most low to medium complexity electrical goods.

If you’re looking to import to Canada, feel free to contact us! Our team would be happy to consult with you to see if we can help you