The Canada Goose company plans to send 7,000 units of Canadian-made personal protective equipment to remote northern Inuit communities. Both reusable and disposable gowns will be shipped to frontline workers in Nunatsiavut, Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. These are among the 53 Indigenous communities across the Canadian Arctic that are collectively called Inuit Nunangat.
Several northern communities reported outbreaks of COVID-19 in November 2020. Those living in Inuit communities are particularly vulnerable to the disease because of crowded housing, poverty, a lack of medical resources, and many people have underlying health conditions. The Canadian government recently provided $19.36 million to help northern communities respond to the pandemic.
(Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami)
PPE destined for ‘some of the most remote parts of the world’
“Inuit Nunangat represent some of the most remote parts of the world with limited access to resources. We hope to do our part to ensure that front-line workers in these regions have the necessary PPE to help protect their communities,” said Gavin Thompson, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, Canada Goose.
To make this happen, the company partnered with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national organization which represents Inuit in Canada to coordinate the deliveries. Transportation will be provided by Canada North, the airline that serves communities in the North.
This donation is part of a Canada Goose program that has already donated 14,000 units of PPE across Canada and 20,000 units to the Mount Sinai Health System in New York.
Canada Goose parkas are sold in New York and other parts of the world.(helen89/iStock)
Company retrofitted manufacturing facilities to produce PPE
The company was able to do this by, at the beginning of the pandemic, converting all eight of its manufacturing facilities so they could switch from making luxury parkas to making medical gowns and scrubs. The factories produced more than 2.5 million PPE units and the company says it has provided them at cost to provincial and federal governments.
Canada Goose started operating in a small warehouse in Toronto in 1957 and has since grown into a maker of luxury apparel sold around the world.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.