Vancouver company is making 6 million medical-grade masks per month

During the early onset of the pandemic, the majority of Canadians — including frontline healthcare workers — were confronted with a harrowing gap in personal protective equipment (PPE).

The lack of preparation sent the country into a tailspin as people scurried to find masks wherever they could and manufacturers amped-up production to meet new demands.

Amidst the PPE shortages and general uncertainty, a team of textile pros was assembled in Vancouver with the goal of creating safer and healthier conditions for Canadians with accessible, affordable, and high-quality masks.

Today, Sunwins Health is fulfilling its safety promise by creating roughly six million locally-made, medical-grade masks per month for doctors, dentists, nurses, and everyday people from coast to coast.

The company has also donated 10,000 masks to Powell Street Getaway, a local homeless shelter and resource centre, in order to help keep some of the city’s most vulnerable safe in the midst of the second wave.

Staff at Powell Street Getaway plan to allocate these masks to up to 2,800 individuals, including those who may suffer from chronic illness, addiction, or mental health challenges. The charitable move comes in the wake of a recent statement from Dr. Bonnie Henry who expressed that a mandatory mask policy could unfairly target the homeless community.

Sunwins staff with community members/Sunwins Health

As such, Sunwins opted to respond promptly by donating in bulk to shelters, and also recently donated 25,000 medical-grade disposable face masks to the Richmond Hospital Foundation. The company plans to continue donations to different areas of the Lower Mainland.

In a climate where it can be difficult for people to distinguish between regular masks and those that meet safety standards, the company provides options that adhere to Health Canada’s rigorous standards.

Indeed, the Sunwins team goes to great lengths to ensure that every single batch of masks is created using the best raw materials and are meticulously tested multiple times before even leaving the warehouse.

“When purchasing locally, you are not only helping support the local Canadian economy, but you are also able to ensure that the masks you purchase are extremely high quality,” says the Sunwins team.

The medical-grade masks they create are much more effective at preventing the spread of the virus than the cloth masks that have recently surged in popularity. That’s because non-medical masks (i.e. cloth masks) only prevent the spread of respiratory droplets, whereas medical masks prevent all those other small particles from proliferating.

Sunwins Health

The decades of experience the team has working in the textiles industry has certainly helped when it comes to sourcing the best materials, finding the right production space, and gaining access to equipment that exceeds current standards.

It’s this winning combination of factors that allowed them to have ten million masks ready for shipment when they were needed most — and the capacity to whip up millions more each month to keep up with ongoing demands.

In the early days of the pandemic, the Sunwins team adds that it was the lack of access to “high in quality, reliable face masks” that initially inspired them to spring to action.

Finding that most of the products on the market were non-medical or falsely labelled as such, the team was motivated to make a dependable Canadian option available, and — just like that — Sunwins was established.

Sunwins Health

Now, after proudly putting much time and dedication into crafting reliable products, the hope is that Canada will become more self-reliant in the PPE sector.

To the company’s gratification, the response among the local community has been “incredible,” according to the Sunwins team.

“People can tell automatically that our products are high in quality, pretty in colour, and comfortable to wear in comparison to other similar products sold in stores.”

You might think that the thorough procedures the company has in place might slow them down a bit, but that’s not the case at all. On the contrary, customers and distributors alike have been consistently impressed by the quick turnaround times, which range from two days to a week (depending on volume) and are among the fastest in Canada.

As for where the company’s headed next, “our ultimate objective is to service and support our government organizations,” the team shares. 

Sunwins Health

Aside from that, the team remains dedicated to staying up-to-date with the latest scientific information and continues to work tirelessly to improve their already impressive quality, standards, and offerings. At the end of the day, their main priority is the health and trust of their loyal customers.

Speaking of which, what better way is there to show your customers some love than with a sale. Currently, all masks sitewide at sunwinshealth.shop are on sale and available in an array of different colours and safety levels — all made right here at home.