Two complementary projects will support productivity, supply-chain resilience, skilled jobs, and the future of advanced manufacturing in Western Canada
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, September 3, 2026 - Innovair Group is pleased to announce that it has been selected for support through PrairiesCan's Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI), with assisted capital of just over $3.5 million, enabling the company to move forward with more than $7 million in combined project investment focused on advanced manufacturing, supply-chain resilience, and long-term industrial competitiveness across the Prairies.
Innovair is a third-generation, Manitoba-based family enterprise serving customers across Western Canada and online across Canada. Through its industrial, healthcare, and robotic automation businesses, Innovair provides industrial gases, welding products, robotic welding and material handling automation systems, respiratory care, medical gases, and related technical services.
With PrairiesCan and the Government of Canada as partners, Innovair will advance two complementary projects.
The first project is HighMix, Innovair's standardized robotic welding cell. Building on Innovair's 12-year history as the largest welding robot integrator in Western Canada, HighMix will transform the company's experience delivering custom automation systems into a pre-engineered, pre-fabricated robotic welding solution that is faster to deploy, easier to program, and more accessible for high-mix, low-volume manufacturers.
The second project will strengthen a vulnerable industrial gas supply chain by adding several Alberta-built cryogenic bulk trailers, along with additional customer-based storage capacity. This will increase Innovair's ability to import and distribute essential gases such as argon, oxygen, nitrogen, and CO₂ from supply points more than 1,300 kilometres away. These gases are critical inputs for welding, cutting, food processing, mining, research, and advanced manufacturing across the Prairies.
"Together, these projects form an integrated system: better tools for manufacturers, and a more reliable supply chain to keep those tools running," said Grant Cockshott, President and CEO of Innovair Group. "This investment addresses real challenges our customers face right now – a need to increase productivity, a shortage of skilled welders and robot programmers, uncertainty about the return on investment from automation, and a fragile supply chain for the gases that feed modern manufacturing processes."
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative is intended to help Prairie businesses respond to economic pressures, improve productivity, strengthen supply chains, and build resilience. Innovair's projects are aligned with those objectives by supporting technology adoption, domestic industrial capability, skilled employment, and improved reliability for manufacturers and processors across Western Canada.
"For Innovair, this is more than a growth project," added Cockshott. "It is a chance to hire and train talented people, develop new technical capabilities here in Manitoba, support Western Canadian manufacturers, and help build a more resilient Canadian industrial base. We are grateful to Minister Olszewski, Diane Gray and the PrairiesCan team for placing their confidence in us."
Innovair expects the projects to support new skilled positions, expanded technical capabilities, and stronger service capacity for customers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Northwest Ontario.
About Innovair Group
Innovair Group is a third-generation, Manitoba-based family enterprise serving customers across Western Canada and online across the country. Founded in Winnipeg in 1946, Innovair was named Canadian Family Enterprise of the Year by Family Enterprise Canada in May 2026, recognizing the company's long-term stewardship, growth, and contribution as a Canadian family business.
Its operating businesses provide industrial gases, welding products, robotic automation systems, medical gases, respiratory care services, and related technical support. With an 80-year history, Innovair is focused on helping customers improve productivity, reliability, and resilience through practical technology, strong service, and long-term partnerships.
Media Contact
Owen Cockshott
Product & Marketing Manager, Innovair Group
Email: owenc@innovairgroup.com
Phone: 204-795-1758
Website: www.innovairgroup.com