Hundreds of people have lost their jobs after a casting plant in Perth, Ont., shut its doors this summer which strikes another blow to the town's decaying manufacturing base.

Grenville Castings, which is owned by Magna International, closed down June 28, leaving around 400 people out of work in a community with a population of 6,000. The business, which has operated in the town for more than a quarter century, will be moving to the United States.

"It felt like a door closed, and there's a severe sense of sadness," Mayor John Fenik told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning. "I think everybody [in Perth] knows somebody that worked there."

Magna announced last year that the aging facility was no longer viable and that the company would be shutting down in 2019. The multinational company employs approximately 174,000 employees at 348 plants, in 29 countries.

Finding work after closure

Sara Fergus said she and her partner were both laid off after more than four years with the company, forcing them to search for new employment.

"I was three months pregnant when they told us, it was a pretty big kick in the face," she said. "Both of our incomes were gone, so it was a big loss, everybody was pretty upset."

Sara Fergus says she and her partner used to work at Grenville Castings together before Magna shuttered its doors. (Hallie Cotnam/CBC)

The effect of the plant's closure extends beyond Fergus and her partner. Both her mother and her partner's father also worked for Grenville Castings, and have lost their jobs. It's not the first time the town has faced a setback like this, she said.

"There's not many plants left here in Perth. A lot of them have closed," she said. "It happens all the time in this area and it's sad, it's very sad."

Bins filled with aluminium parts at Grenville Castings were waiting to be taken away on trucks toward the U.S. after the plant closed last month. (Hallie Cotnam/CBC)

Fenik expects the closure will have both an economic and social impact on the town because not everyone will find new employment immediately.

"[We need to] bring in new manufacturing opportunities and do what we can to fill the void that Grenville Castings has left."