Maple Leaf Foods to build new London plant, shutter 3 others in Ontario

LONDON Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is building a $660-million fresh-poultry facility in London, Ont., that will enhance its ability to process higher-margin products by closing three aging plants in the province.

The protein company will invest an initial $605.5 million into the plant that will serve Eastern Canada and an additional $5 million into related projects over the next five years, while $34.5 million will come from the Ontario government and an additional $28 million from the Canadian government.

It will lead to a net reduction of about 300 jobs.

The new facility will span nearly 60,000 square metres and employ 1,450 full- and part-time workers once operations begin, which is expected in the second quarter of 2021. Construction will begin this spring.

“It will solidify and strengthen the poultry industry in Canada for the next many, many decades,” Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain said in a conference call after markets closed Monday.

Chicken is the most consumed and fastest growing meat protein in Canada.

McCain said the plant is the largest single-site investment ever made in the Canadian food sector. Production from three of Maple Leaf’s other plants will eventually be consolidated into the new facility, the company said.

Its St. Marys plant is expected to close by late 2021 and its Toronto and Brampton facilities will close by in midto late-2022.