For those of you looking to source production in Canada, this news from the Toronto Fashion Incubator means even lower costs; the elimination of tax on fabrics imported to produce your lines there. From the TFI newsletter:

No Tax on Imported Textiles
On October 28, 2005, the federal government announced its intention to introduce measures to assist the Canadian textile and apparel industries. These include eliminating tariffs on a number of fibers, yarns and apparel fabrics not produced in Canada and moving forward with additional measures to help strengthen the competitiveness of these industries.

The government is also considering other proposals that could yield up to an additional $17.5 million in annual tariff relief, bringing the total amount of duty savings up to $46.5 million annually.

Along with these tariff-relieving measures, the government will extend the Designer Remission Order and will eliminate the $14/m2 price point on imported fabrics. This will allow designers to import all of their fabrics duty-free and better compete internationally.

Read the press release for more information.