spotlight on North America

The way forward

1 January 2007



Chris Tebbs discusses the challenges facing Canada’s drycleaning industry


The problems and challenges that confront the drycleaning industry in Canada are no different from those around the world. Drycleaners must face up to regulation of the use of solvents; the industry’s poor public image; the difficulty in recruiting technically qualified staff; and a lack of consideration to aftercare of garments by textile manufacturers.

However, there are still great opportunities for those who are prepared to take on the challenges.

Whilst Canada is a single entity with a federal government, it is divided into 10 separate provinces and three territories, each with its own government and economy and cultural backgrounds.

Generally, the Canadian economy has improved in recent years but the effects are not uniform. Ontario, with its manufacturing base has seen growth but has been affected by the rising value of the Canadian dollar. The Atlantic provinces which rely on tourism have not fared so well, although recent development of offshore oil reserves might change this.

The Alberta economy with its abundance of oil, natural gas and other minerals has been red hot. The economic improvement has led to an increase in disposable income and this has been of benefit to the industry but, as in most countries, textile care has been affected by the trend to more washable garments. In terms of pure drycleaning, it seems that the volume of clothes cleaned has remained flat, but there has been growth in commercial laundering, particularly shirts.

The number of drycleaning processing outlets in Canada has declined to around 2,800 from about 3,500 in the late 1990s, with most of that reduction attributed to the Federal Environmental Regulations introduced in February 2003. Several cleaners decided to “retire” rather than spend money on upgrading their machine and premises, and some businesses changed the way they operate, with multiple outlets converted some into dry stores/receiving shops feeding in to the remaining processing units, for example.

Although the regulation targeted the use of perchloroethylene, it remains the solvent of choice amongst more than 90% of the industry. Because of the short time-scale for changing to closed circuit dry-to-dry refrigerated machines, certified by manufacturers as capable of cleaning 161kg work/litre solvent, most stayed with the solvent they knew best.

Recently there has been some growth in hydrocarbon use. This has been driven mainly by a landlord perception of perc, which often results in restrictive clauses when leases are renewed.

This trend is likely to increase, as many smaller Canadian drycleaning units are in leased property such as strip malls and shopping centres.

Whilst environmental regulations affecting the industry are federal and applied across Canada, health and safety regulations are under provincial jurisdiction and can vary in content and in enforcement.

For example, Alberta has probably the most all-embracing regulations affecting the drycleaning industry but, with a limited number of enforcement officers, enforcement is concentrated on high-risk areas such as the oil fields and construction industry.

Most drycleaners already conform to most of the regulations, particularly as the environmental regulations also impact on the safe use of solvents.

Recruiting and maintaining staff can be difficult. Shops are open for long hours requiring an element of shift work; the image of dealing with other people’s dirty clothes does not attract young people and it is not really seen as a career path occupation, more of a short term fill-in.

In Alberta, competition for labour with other service industries is causing severe problems, resulting in some shops restricting their opening hours. Those that are managing have increased hourly rates but, as there is still a public perception that drycleaning is expensive, there is a reluctance to increase prices and this is creating financial pressures.

Unlike the USA, Canada does not have a mandatory system for care labelling. Garments can be sold with labels conforming to the International Standard, to the USA labelling system, to the Canadian Standards and, of course, those with no labels; with this variety of instructions, the garment’s country of origin becomes most important.

In addition, there is the problems of incorrectly labelled garments so, at best, care labelling needs to be treated with caution and drycleaners need to rely on their skills and knowledge.


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