Another piece of industrial land is now up for sale in Kitchener.
‘For sale’ signs were recently erected outside the Lear auto parts plant at the corner of Homer Watson Boulevard and Manitou Drive.
The plant once employed more than 1,000 people.
Its workforce has dwindled to about 100, and the Lear Corporation plans to close the facility by the end of the year.
Brian Little is the president of Unifor Local 1524, which represents workers at the Kitchener plant.
He blames the federal government for “wiping out” Canada’s auto sector, most recently with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal – which he says will take 20,000 auto manufacturing jobs out of southwestern Ontario.
“I never see the government there to back us up,” he said in an interview.
Company officials say a number of potential buyers have already toured the facility.
Commercial real estate agent John Whitney says he sees a lot of potential uses for the facility, including warehousing.
Among its perks, he rhymes off its “great location” four kilometres from Highway 401, and its adaptability.
“It could get broken up into some smaller areas. It’s just a big, wide open box,” he said.
Little has his own preference for what goes on inside the facility.
“I’d love to see my Lear workers working in there, but that’s not going to happen,” he said.
