News

Investment in Local Meat Processor’s Capacity

NORTH BAY – Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing announced $148,324.20 in local funding for the Canada Meat Group Inc., as part of the provincial and federal governments’ investment of more than $7 million to quickly increase production and efficiency in meat processing plants across the province.

Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, 77 projects are receiving cost-share funding to purchase or upgrade equipment that will improve productions and safety measures in free-standing meat plants and abattoirs in Ontario. The program was focused on measures that could quickly increase processing capacity as the industry dealt with a shortage of processing capacity, partly related to COVID slowdowns.

“The COVID pandemic has made it more difficult for our farmers to find the processing capacity that they needed and these investments are part of our rapid response to help both our farmers and our local processing industry to overcome these challenging times,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “This announcement is the latest step our government is taking to support the sector to upgrade productivity and food safety to help keep Ontario’s food supply system strong.”

This funding is part of both governments’ investments to assist Ontario’s agri-food sector in meeting challenges related to COVID-19. Today’s local investment will go towards purchasing a vacuum sealer and shrink tank to increase production.

“We appreciate so much the support from the government of Ontario during this challenging time. The new equipment allows us to keep our current business and even start a new division,” Oleksandr Zahrebelnyi, Owner and President of Canada Meat Group Inc.

Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to approximately 4,400 projects through the Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.

QUICK FACTS

• Due to high demand, an additional $3.2 million was added to this program from the original $4 million allocation to fund all eligible applications received.
• The Partnership is a five-year, $3-billion commitment by Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments that supports Canada’s agri-food and agri-products sectors.
• There are 480 provincially licensed and 230 federally licensed facilities (abattoirs and free-standing meat plants) in Ontario.
• The Ontario agri-food sector supports more than 860,000 jobs in Ontario and contributes more than $47.3 billion each year to the province’s economy.