Also NS here!
1 Like
Up until this point I had only known about one other GF ordered, and even then it was after a conversation with the manager at the Dartmouth Tandy Leather! Good to see there are a few more!
Yay… More delays. Oct 1st and November 30th. Same for all of us?
1 Like
Yeah mine just jumped from Sep 01 to Oct 01. I doubt we’ll get any in Canada this year at all.
Saddly i have to agree. Just seems like one lie after another with no transparency. They have their USA and Europe sales so they dont care about us anymore. Sure is a slap in the face tho waiting so long and having it pushed back with no explanation all the while seeing them go on about their 10 day delivery in the USA.
I was born in Nova Scotia and have a lot of family still there…and a cousin in Dartmouth! 
I’m sorry you all have had to wait so long. I’m now south of the border and have my machine. I feel pretty bad. Even though I already got mine, I wish they would share what’s up…it’s like a bad relationship that you keep thinking is going to work, and you just keep getting strung along…for years, hoping for the best. 
1 Like
Fellow Canadians, it’s worth the wait. I did cross the border to pick mine up as I live that close.
I still keep tabs on comparable laser machines out there and as of last I checked - Glowforge is good value for a 40W laser
Yes it would be nice to at least find out what the hold up is. Are Canada’s specifications so stringent they can’t meet them? Other laser manufacturers have managed to get approval so this completely baffles me. Gloforge tell us what the issue is!
1 Like
It’s very likely that in order to pass CSA standards specifications they’re having to do some hardware changes (what those may be is anyone’s guess). This can however lead to significant delays in the back and forth for the certification testing phase. Maybe CSA is requiring some safety switches where there are none or something else. But in the end it’s anyone’s guess because GF doesn’t talk about anything.
Said other manufacturers probably took the more logical approach of actually designing with the standards in mind and starting with the certification process long before finishing the design and certainly before having a finish built machine.
2 Likes
It wouldn’t surprise me at all. The established manufacturers have been doing this for years and presumably know all the fine details of each country. Glowforge started from scratch as a startup, with all the pressure of getting something to market, and probably figured, “how different could Canada, Norway, etc… be?” And then they found out. For other countries, not Canada or Norway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a just waiting for something to be approved delay. We run into that all the time in medical devices: just waiting for the approval.
2 Likes
Canadians with degrees in just about every field are a dime a dozen. You’d think they could have found some consultant for CSA regulations instead of the cross your fingers approach.
I’m in Ottawa, give me the office number of who’s desk it’s stuck on and I’ll go give’em a poke to get going.
1 Like
Illogical. Canada is a large market compared to most. The company already did a mass cancellation of orders from a bunch of countries a year or so ago. If they wanted Canada, Australia, etc., to go away, an apology and a refund would be far easier and better for the company image than stringing folks along without purpose.
6 Likes
Likely or not the lack of information is the cause of this speculation.
@dan , for the love of all that that can be laser-ed tell us what the Chrétien is going on. This has gone long enough, no one is OK with this, it’s alienating swaths of your community and for what?
If this is indeed a community and you care about us we are having a hard time seeing it when at best we are offered indication that we’ll be delayed again before it happens, which is not always the case. We’ve quite often only found out from others or by chance.
Is that the kind of company GF is? At the moment it’s not transparent, puts it’s seemingly trivial interests before the backers it seems quite happy losing to refunds.
2 Likes
I’m not an expert by any means but I work in the same industry as Flex. My company builds products for both American and Canadian markets for military, medical and consumer markets. What I can confirm that some Canada’s requirements for military and medical are more stringent then for some American and European markets. Consumer is similar as well. (there are also some things vice versa) There’s so many things my firm builds that wouldn’t be okay for Canada but it’s fine for America. I’m sure that’s why Glowforge can sell in the USA and some overseas markets but cannot commit to their Canadian neighbours.
I’m one of the few who brought it up from the USA. The whole thing is actually much more complicated then I imply above. If Glowforge is not sharing, it is because they legally cannot or choose not to.
1 Like
As salty as I am about the delay yet again… At least Dan has revraled that they got compliance approval for the basic model and are now starting to ship those. The pro is still not approved yet. But at this point there might be a minute chance that the filter will be ready to ship around the same time… (not holding my breath).
1 Like
A couple of people from Canada just posted they got their notice. Dan said both the Basic and Plus have been approved for shipping to Canada but that the Pro is still awaiting approval.
I’d bet the government doesn’t have an easy category for a Class 4 laser that can also operate as a Class 1 and is targeted to consumers and not to sophisticated commercial entities.
3 Likes
Fun fact… If youre a commercial entity in Ontario and want to have a Class IV laser, you must appoint a Laser Safety Officer. More pita stuff.
2 Likes
If you get a Pro, GF sends you a Laser Safety Officer course that you have to certify you’ve read so you get to be an LSO too 
They also provide appropriate templates for safety procedures.
Seemed like overkill for me & my not-massive basement operation 
3 Likes
And that’s where the bureaucracy comes into play… Can the LSO and operator be the same person? 
I think the whole thing becomes a little absurd tbh. One of my colleagues runs a laser cutting shop. All CO2 lasers, they use polycarbonate glasses for protection and they’re good to go. And machines are wide open too. It would be a different situation with fibre. But it’s a bit amusing to think about it.
2 Likes
I AM the Laser Safety Officer. (Strikes me as fun as all getout.)
3 Likes