Ontario meat processors receive $7M for new equipment

Seventy-four projects in Ontario’s meat processing facilities will receive more than $7 million from the federal and provincial governments to increase production efficiency.

These projects are receiving cost-share funding to purchase or upgrade equipment that will improve production and safety measures in free-standing meat plants and abattoirs in Ontario.

The program is focused on measures that could quickly increase processing capacity as the industry deals with a shortage of processing capacity, partly related to COVID slowdowns.

The $7 million funding is part of both governments’ investments to assist Ontario’s agri-food sector in meeting challenges related to COVID-19. Due to high demand, an additional $3.2 million was added to the original $4 million allocation to fund eligible applications.

Some examples of the projects supported through this initiative include the purchase and installation of machinery including temperature sensors, bench scales, waterproof industrial screens and labeling that will increase overall productivity, and the purchase and installation of vacuum packaging equipment that will increase the efficiency and speed of processing meat.

These projects are being funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $3-billion program from Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments to support Canada’s agri-food and agri-products sectors.