Airway Surgical Appliance, Ltd is one of the leading home healthcare manufacturers and distributors in Canada. Founded in 1895 as the Ottawa Truss & Surgical Company (“OTC”) the company settled a block from the Canadian Parliament on Sparks Street.

Originally OTC served as a retail outlet with fitters on the ground floor and the top floors dedicated to the manufacturing of trusses, abdominal belts, elastic hosiery and surgical goods. In 1935 the Ohio Truss company purchased the Ottawa Truss Company along with the Windsor Truss Company and the Toronto Elastic Hosiery Company. The Canadian headquarters remained in Ottawa as OTC was the largest manufacturing and distribution network.

Through the decades the company’s product line has continually evolved with the market, with emphasis shifting from trusses to orthopedic garments since the 1940s, along with mobility and convalescent aids since the ‘50s, retail-focused soft goods since the ‘70s, and a heavy concentration on compression therapy products since the ‘90s.

Today, the majority of our products are proudly manufactured at our facilities in the US and Canada. Airway’s products are divided into five major brand categories. Each showcases quality and innovation and are manufactured for maximum therapeutic benefit and wearer comfort. Click the links below for historical overviews of how each brand came to be what it is today.