The closure of one of the city's oldest factories will put about 330 people in Stratford out of work by the summer of 2012.
FRAM, which was owned by U.S.-based Honeywell until March when it was purchased by New Zealand-based Rank Group, makes 50 million oil, air and fuel filters each year.
It began operations in Stratford 58 years ago, and at its peak in 2006 there were 600 people working at the plant.
There is no word on the exact reason for the shut down, but there is speculation the high Canadian dollar, poor U.S. economy, rising shipping costs and cheaper foreign labour may have had an impact.
Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson found out just after the employees at the plant on Romeo Street.
He says "Yesterday morning at 7:15 I received a call at my house to let me know that they were closing…It's really tough."
Employees told CTV they didn't want to speak with the media because they didn't want trouble from management.
Production is being moved to a plant in Ohio.
Mathieson says at the time of the purchase, Rank Group was enthusiastic about the plant, "They told us they liked the efficiency, the productivity and the quality of the product that was coming out of Stratford."
Now the company says overcapacity is forcing it to consolidate production in the U.S.
It is expected to be difficult for former employees to find similar, high-paying jobs like those they had at FRAM.
Ray Robillard works at the Carquest auto parts store across the street, he says "It's going to be hard in this town, I think, just for the fact there's a few other factories that have cut back and slowed down."
Mathieson knows replacing manufacturing jobs is difficult and says the city is sending a delegation to Japan in November to talk to companies about setting up shop in Stratford.
