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He immediately reached out to contacts in China who helped him source two fully automated mask production machines. As borders were closing and international freight options were drying up, he knew he had to act quickly. He paid $600,000 in cash for the two-tonne machines.

The first machine was air-freighted to Vancouver — a near miracle, its delivery eased through international channels with help from “various levels of government,” he said.

Zanatta received delivery of the first surgical mask machine on Monday. “I haven’t slept in four nights (in preparation),” he said.

He expects delivery of the N95 respirator-making machine sometime in the next two weeks.

“The seamstresses are retraining right now to do quality control, run the machines and do packaging. They are thrilled,” said Zanatta, adding that they will also be manufacturing medical-grade pillows for hospitals.

Zanatta is watching videos in Mandarin and using Google translate to learn the details of how to set up the machine.

“Up until the world changed in the past month, when you bought an automated machine, the manufacturer would send an engineer to help you assemble it,” said Zanatta.

He will FaceTime throughout the night with his suppliers in China to tweak the final setup.

Starting Tuesday, 100,000 medical-grade surgical masks will be rolling off the assembly line daily. Once the second machine arrives, he will be able to produce 100,000 N95 masks a day as well.