Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is building a plant in London and shuttering 3 other plants in Ontario per the Toronto Sun. The new $660 million facility will invest $605.5 million into the new plant and will serve Eastern Canada. An additional $5 million will go into related projects over the next five years. $34.5 million will come from the Ontario government and $28 million from the Canadian government. This will cause a net reduction of about 300 jobs.
The facility will span roughly 60,000 metres and will employ 2,450 full and part-time workers at the start which is expected to be in 2021. Construction is expected to begin this spring.
Maple Leaf CEO, Michael McCain, said "It will solidify and strengthen the poultry industry in Canada for the next many, many decades." Chicken is the most consumed meat protein in Canada and has a very large consumer market.
Their plant in St. Marys will be closing by late 2021 and it's Toronto and Brampton plant will close in mid to late 2022.
Michael McCain told analysts "These plants have served us well but they are now 50 to 60 years old and severely growth constrained because of the location, footprint or infrastructure and nearing the end of their productive capacity. This is going to be, to the very best of our knowledge, the single most technologically advanced facility of its kind in the world."
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The new plant's opening will allow it to earn an extra $105 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization annually and will also help to expand its retail brand and supply fresh chicken to two other facilities that make cooked and sliced meat.
The location of the new plant will be situated very close to Highway 401 and will deliver more than 30% cost savings from lower labor, overhead and distribution.
The company also plans to take care of its affected employees with job opportunities at the new facility and other plants that they have and even help them eventually find new employment.
Ontario Premier, Doug Ford and federal ministers praised the project. Federal Economic Development Minister, Navdeep Bains said, "The project will keep Canada competitive in the global market and create new middle class jobs in Ontario."
Maple Leaf Foods was established in 1991 and employes more than 11,000 people across Canada and exports to more than 20 global markets.
According to CBC News, the London Economic Development Corporation and the City of London have been working with the company to land the deal in London. They are also working with location institutions including Fanshawe College and Brescia University College to develop talent to work in food and drinks processing, quality assurance and nutritional sciences.
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