A high Canadian dollar and new passport rules are driving away American clients, says the owner of an eastern Ontario woodworking school that recently went bankrupt.

Ted Brown said those two factors forced him to close Rosewood Studio, his Almonte, Ont., business, for good last week.

The studio had taught fine woodworking courses to students from across the country and around the world since Brown opened it in 2002, after he was laid off from Nortel.

'All of a sudden they put in passport laws and that was the killer.'— Ted Brown

Brown said 40 per cent of his clients were from the U.S., and their numbers started declining sharply last year.

The rising dollar, which is stronger than it has been for three decades, passing 94 cents US on June 1, has made visiting Canada more costly.

"As things tightened up, it became harder and harder for my American clients to come up," Brown said. "And all of a sudden they put in passport laws and that was the killer."

Since January, new rules have required U.S. citizens to carry passports when they fly to and from Canada. Those rules have been lifted for the summer while the U.S. tries to catch up on a backlog of passport applications.

Closure hurts other businesses

The owners of other Almonte businesses said there is a ripple effect when a business such as Brown's closes.

Bob Graffe, who owns an Almonte bakery, said Rosewood Studio brought tourists to the town and filled local bed and breakfasts during the low season in winter.

"On any given week, you'd have basically three full-time employees, a couple of the guest teachers, and then up to 14 students," he said. "Even though Rosewood was only here for a short period of time, it's done a lot for the town."