The Canada and Manitoba governments are investing CA$500,000 (US$383,000) in an expansion project that will increase bacon production at Maple Leaf Foods' Winnipeg-based facility by eight million kilograms (176 million pounds) every year, Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced in a press release.
Government funding will be used to invest in new processing and packaging equipment for the bacon production line at the Maple Leaf Foods (MLF) plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The bacon production line expansion project is valued at more than CA$5.9 million (US$4.5 million) and is expected to be completed later this year.
The bacon production expansion is expected to create 34 new permanent, full-time jobs as well as 34 part-time jobs and is part of a larger CA$35 million (US$27 million) expansion of the plant. MLF is Canada's largest value-added protein company, with fresh and prepared meat operations located in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba as well as Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The ministers noted this expansion will help increase exports of Canadian pork to highly valuable international markets.
The federal and provincial governments are investing CA$176 million (US$134 million) in cost-shared programming in Manitoba under Growing Forward 2, a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial policy framework to advance the agriculture industry, helping producers and processors become more innovative and competitive in world markets.
Other recent Canadian federal funding for Maple Leaf Foods
Canadian meat and poultry company Maple Leaf Foods has received CA$90,380 (US$69,000) from the governments of Canada and Ontario to help the company grow its facility in Hamilton, Ontario.
The government funds, according to a news release from the Government of Canada, will be used to enable Maple Leaf Foods to:
- Build leadership capacity and drive high-performance results by delivering a team-based, continuous learning and improvement environment for about 140 employees.
- Provide training through Mohawk Colleges, which will ensure that employees have the knowledge and skills needed to improve efficiency and operations at the Hamilton facility.
