Duplate / PPG

This glass manufacturer, which had four names throughout its 87 year history, began in 1922 when Col. William Eric Phillips established the W. E. Phillips Co. Ltd. With the growing popularity of automobiles and their need for a windshield, Phillips saw an opportunity with this manufacturing operation. As summarized by the Oshawa Times, “Col. Phillips realized that glass cutting should be confined to the work-bench under laboratory supervision; in short, glass should be made to serve the needs of mankind, especially while travelling in the then new automobiles.”

Before the end of the decade, Phillips secured the exclusive Canadian rights to manufacture Duplate laminated safety glass, and the company became the Duplate Safety Glass Company of Canada. Shortly thereafter, Phillips formed a three-way partnership with Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) and Pilkington Brothers of England to produce both laminated and tempered safety glass for Canadian manufacturers.

Through the years, the company grew and thrived. During the Second World War, like other industries in Oshawa, production was shifted toward the war effort. As remembered by Elmer Lewis,

I worked at Duplate for the first part of the war. We worked 10 hours a day and it was a 58 hour week. But we got two hours off on Saturday so we finished at 4 PM… My wife worked at Duplate during the war and cut out round pieces of glass for gas masks and prisms for tanks. I laminated the glass for gas masks… My wife continued to work at Duplate, then the policy after the war was ‘no jobs for married women’.

The workers were represented by the UAW (CAW) Local 222, and notable strikes included one which lasted over six weeks in 1946. There was a Social and Sports Club which organized events, like picnics, and sports teams for employees and their families. The company also established a 25 Year Club, which recognized employees who had worked for the company for 25+ years.

In the early 1980s, PPG bought Duplate Canada and continued glass manufacturing for another few decades. In October 2008, the company was bought for a final time by Pittsburgh Glass Works, who announced the closure of the Oshawa plant less than two months after the purchase. The company closed its doors in early 2009. In 2023, the former plant was demolished, and there are plans to build for residential and commercial on the land.