Irwin Fitness began with one welder, one garage and the belief that premium strength equipment should be designed and built in Canada.
In August 2020, Garth Irwin brought his fabrication experience and passion for training into a small garage in Carman, Manitoba. The first product was an at-home squat and bench rack. The principle behind it still defines the company: build equipment with more care, more capability and fewer compromises.
Growth changed the scale of the operation, not the standard. Equipment is still developed around the realities of training floors, assembled by people who understand the product and refined through direct work with the facilities that use it.
Commercial-grade steel, precise hole patterns and details designed for hard daily use.
From individual systems to complete rooms, the team remains involved beyond the product itself.
New equipment is continually shaped by feedback from athletes, owners, developers and performance staff - and home gym owners.
The story is not a straight jump from a garage to a larger factory. It is a sequence of product breakthroughs, facility projects, technology investments and partnerships that expanded what Irwin could build.
Irwin Fitness was born in a small garage in Carman, Manitoba. Garth Irwin combined fabrication experience with a passion for training and built the first Irwin Fitness at-home squat and bench rack.
Gym closures created an unprecedented surge in home-equipment orders. With limited equipment and a young operation, the team adapted while working, building the resilience and production discipline needed to fulfil a rapidly growing order volume.
Laser-cutting technology and collaboration with local businesses introduced precisely cut components, numbered uprights and custom-height racks. The company also moved into a 1,300-square-foot shop, creating more room to improve both efficiency and product quality.
Irwin transformed Industrial Athletics in Thunder Bay, Ontario alongside the Popowich family. The project proved that the company could move beyond individual equipment and help bring a complete training-space vision to life.
The launch of the Pro Series 3x3" with 1" holes and hardware along side our Roller J-Cups marked a major step forward. These were Irwin's most commercially focused products to date and helped establish the brand as a serious Canadian manufacturer for demanding training environments.
A pivotal contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers brought wider recognition and established Irwin as a trusted equipment partner for a professional organization.
With continued support from the community and a growing customer base, Irwin began building a new 7,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with space for increased production, a showroom, a gym and future product development.
The new manufacturing facility gave Irwin the footprint to design, fabricate and push product development further. The larger space represented more than capacity; it gave the team control over the next stage of growth.
Irwin began manufacturing weight plates and kettlebells while working with larger gyms and professional organizations across North America, including the Florida Panthers. Customization expanded across plates, barbells and complete facility packages.
A partnership with Kraiberg brought premium German flooring systems to Canadian projects. That capability combined with Irwin's gym design experience, including the company's largest project to date at Junxion Performance in Toronto.
GHDs, reverse hypers, high/low cable towers, updated seal row benches and competition benches expanded the range, moving Irwin closer to providing complete strength solutions for facilities of every size.
Irwin partnered with the Calgary Stampeders to enhance their training environment with equipment tailored to the organization's performance requirements.
Under constant pressure with lead times, we decided to re-invest. We started the process of building out our own powder-coating line.
Fully commissioned, our own batch powdercoating system designed in house, operates on a on rail system that has drastically changed how we operate and has streamlined how quickly we can move product out the door.
Every larger facility, new partnership and expanded product line reinforces the same expectation: equipment should look premium, feel solid and continue performing long after installation.
Start a facility projectThe scale is different, but the fundamentals are the same principles that shaped the first rack in the garage.
Materials, details and construction choices should earn trust before the first repetition.
A premium facility comes from the relationship between equipment, layout, storage and flooring.
The people designing and building the equipment remain connected to the spaces where it is used.
Whether the project starts with one rack or a complete facility, the same team is ready to help shape the system around the room.
