Ontario moldmaker Coreprint Patterns gets $860,000 to make components for COVID-19 tests

Hamilton, Ont.-based moldmaker Coreprint Patterns is receiving nearly $860,000 from the provincial government to manufacture critical components for COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for hospitals and labs.

Coreprint will receive the investment through the province’s Ontario Together Fund (OTF), which was established to fund manufacturing projects related to COVID-19. The government invested an additional $50 million in the fund for the next year.

“Currently, there are no made-in-Ontario sources for these important components, which are difficult to acquire due to high demand globally,” the province said in a June 28 news release. “Strengthening an Ontario supply chain will increase the availability and stability of these critical supplies. A reliable, local supply chain of these perishable components will reduce the need to stockpile items that expire.”

Coreprint is a family-run business whose current core business is moldmaking. These are predominantly for floor mold castings, match plates castings, investment castings and injection molded plastics, as well as machining with a focus on castings.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a deficit in local production of biomedical labware,” said Coreprint owner and operator Jonathan Hornell-Kennedy. “Under the guidance of Dr. David Bulir of St. Joesph’s Hospital and Joyce Seto of Ontario Health we have identified specific items in critical need. With support from Dr. Stephen Veldhuis of the McMaster Manufacturing Research institute, Oliver Kehrls of Niigon Machines and the team at Elliot Matsuura we have been working to produce these items. Coreprint will leverage the funding from OTF to bolster the local industry surrounding the production of these critical items while creating good jobs in our community.”