Canada: Major investment to help meat packers

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Member of Parliament (Cambridge), announced an investment of $1.6 million to help Cambridge Meat Packers from the Slaughter Improvement Program.

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“Canada’s Economic Action Plan continues to help meat packers and processors keep their competitive edge in the marketplace,” said Minister of State Goodyear. “A strong, competitive meat packing and processing sector means more jobs and a stronger economy.”

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Pork producers – high quality product to consumers
This loan will allow the company to construct a water-treatment facility and finance the purchase and installation of new equipment to make sure that pork producers can get their high-quality product to consumers. Cambridge Meat Packers’ 35,000-square-foot plant was recently renovated into a state-of-the-art facility, meeting federal inspection requirements.

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“We’re grateful for the loan provided by the Slaughter Improvement Program as it will assist us in finishing the extensive renovations to the plant so that we can begin slaughtering operations,” said Albertino Domingues, President of Cambridge Meat Packers. “This will provide jobs to the local community and an additional market for Ontario hogs.”

The Government of Canada’s $50-million Slaughter Improvement Program, as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, makes federal loans available to support sound business plans aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving operations of red meat packing and processing operations in Canada. The 2010 Budget provided an additional $10 million to the program.

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With more than $20 billion in sales, the red meat industry is Canada’s single largest employer in the food industry.

For more information on this program, visit www.agr.gc.ca/slaughterhouse.

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For more information on Canada’s Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

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Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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