Aluminum Manufacturing in Canada
Aluminum is one of the strongest sourcing cases in Canadian manufacturing. The country is the world's fourth-largest producer of primary aluminum1, and because almost all of it is smelted in Quebec on hydroelectricity, it carries a fraction of the global average carbon footprint2. For a sourcing decision that means abundant domestic billet and plate, tariff-free CUSMA supply, and lower embodied carbon on the bill of materials before the first chip is cut.
That supply feeds shops running the alloy at production cadence. 6061 covers most structural, enclosure, and bracket work, with 7075 where strength-to-weight governs. High machinability keeps cycle times short and finishes clean, and the network holds anodizing in-house, type II for color and type III hardcoat for wear, with tolerances controlled where the print demands them.
Sources 1. Natural Resources Canada, Aluminum facts·2. Invest Québec, the greenest aluminum in the world
What you can get made
- Finishing
- Powder Coating, Anodizing, Polishing, Painting, Deburring, Plating, Heat Treating, Sand Blasting
- Advanced equipment
- 5-Axis Machining, CMM, Live Tooling, Mill-Turn, Wire EDM, Swiss Turning
- Industries served
- Industrial, Aerospace, Medical, Defense, Automotive, Construction, Food Processing, Energy
Good to know
- 6061-T6 is the default for general structural and bracket work; 7075 where strength matters most.
- Anodizing is the most common finish: type II for color, type III hardcoat for wear resistance.
- Thin walls can move during machining, so generous tolerances there keep cost down.