Unifor is calling for emergency support for the furniture manufacturing sector, which is taking a walloping in the wake of the imposition and persistence of U.S. tariffs, leaving Quebec particularly hard hit with the closure of Bestar and South Shore.
Bestar will close its Lac-Mégantic plant which employs 120 Unifor members, while Meubles South Shore will shutter after 86 years operating at Sainte-Croix and Coaticook. Both closures are likely to send a ripple effect through the supply chain as these manufacturers use locally sourced wood.
For South Shore, known for its ready-to-assemble furniture, sales dropped 77% between 2022 and 2025 due to the tariffs as well as a drop in demand caused by a shift in the market toward imported furniture from Asia.
“We’ve done everything we could to keep our business running and preserve jobs,” said Charles Laflamme, CEO of South Shore Furniture, “but it has become impossible for us to continue operating in a market where World Trade Organization rules are not being followed.”
The closure comes despite efforts to invest in modernization and lean out its operations through layoffs. In fact, it was an early adopter of the ecommerce platform, and it embraced automation and robotics.
