American vision care non-profit moving to Manitoba as U.S. tariffs drive up costs

Global Vision 2020 says it plans to move production to the province this summer

Felisha Adam · CBC News · Posted: Apr 22, 2025 6:00 AM EDT

Greg Wiens, the director of operations for Global Vision 2020, says the non-profit made the decision to move production to Manitoba due to challenges caused by tariffs. (Felisha Adam/CBC)

American organizations that help people in need are now among those facing the sting of U.S. tariffs — and a non-profit that provides eye care to people in 68 countries plans to move its production to Manitoba because of the uncertainty the tariffs have created.

Global Vision 2020 is a non-profit founded 15 years ago, with the goal of making glasses easily accessible, particularly in developing countries.

The organization says in the last seven years, it has helped nearly a million people in Africa, Asia and South America with vision issues, but earlier this month, decided it would be challenging to continue to work out of the United States.

"For us … it's the chaos, it's the disruption, it's the unknowns that are really causing all of this," said Kevin White, Global Vision 2020's founder and executive director.

"We produce a really, really inexpensive product," but tariffs would make that impossible, he said.

The non-profit is able to keep the prices of glasses at roughly $5 a pair by getting materials like frames and lenses from China. Once the materials reach Global Vision's warehouse in Easton, Md., the organization packages and then ships the glasses to clinics and distribution centres in countries that include Ghana, Malawi and Laos.

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