Footwear factory to relocate to Ontario from Newfoundland after four decades

A footwear factory that operated in a small Newfoundland community for more than 40 years is closing and relocating to Ontario.

Terra Nova Shoes says it is shutting down its Newfoundland operations in Harbour Grace, which will cost the area about 80 jobs by the end of November, and moving to Cambridge, Ont.

In a statement, the company says workers are being offered bonuses to work until the plant closes and encouraged to apply for jobs in Cambridge.

The company says the Ontario location is closer to its head office and distribution centre.

Kevin Huckle, president of Kodiak Group Holdings, says the cost of operating the Harbour Grace plant had become unsustainable over the past several years.

The factory first opened in 1971 and the company was given a provincial government loan in 2008 to expand the plant, which it has said it will repay.