On Tuesday, on behalf of Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Special Representative for the Prairies, Jim Carr, announced support of up to $7.8 million through the Emergency Processing Fund for 24 meat processing companies across the Prairies.

“Our Prairie meat businesses have shown incredible resilience throughout this time of crisis," said Carr. "The investments announced today are helping many local businesses adapt their operations to help protect the health and safety of their employees which will allow them to continue supplying good food for Canadians.”

This funding helps these businesses keep employees safe and the regional food supply chain running strong.

Recipients are using this funding to make adjustments to enable social distancing, purchase reuseable personal protective equipment (PPE), install protective barriers, improve sanitation and develop training for employees. These changes are also helping the food plants avoid production bottlenecks and safely keep up with Canadian consumer demand.

“We applaud the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food’s efforts and support for the meat processing industry. The funding will help us continue, to keep our employees safe with increased social distancing and make our plant resilient in supplying Valley Lea Farms Fresh Pork and Winkler’s line of Sausage products to Canadians,” said Dickson Gould, President of Winkler Meats Ltd.

The $77.5 million Emergency Processing Fund is helping food processors implement measures to protect the health and safety of workers and their families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on supporting meat processing facilities in Canada. The Fund also supports facility upgrades to help strengthen Canada's food supply.

In Alberta, these projects include:

Aliya's Foods Limited - $406,999
Bouvry Export Calgary Ltd. - $27,150
Bry-Conn Developments Inc. - $16,576
Canada Lamb Processors Ltd.- $22,404
Cut-Rite Meats Ltd. - $71,432
Forestburg Meat Processing Inc. - $137,271
Harmony Beef Company Limited - $88,134
Irvings Farm Fresh Ltd. - $44,250
JBS Food Canada - $804,912
Provost Packers Ltd. - $49,980
Ryley Sausage (1991) Ltd. - $44,182
Serben Farms - $14,500
Soleterra d'Italia - $231,096
Spolumbo's Fine Foods & Deli - $69,472
Trochu Meat Processors Ltd. - $63,287
Viva Deli Inc. - $70,184

In Saskatchewan, these projects include:

Drake Meat Processors Inc. - $49,500
Pineview All Natural Meats Inc. - $40,000
Prairie Pride Natural Foods Ltd. - $14,175

In Manitoba, these projects include:

6381023 Manitoba Ltd. - $320,000
East 40 Packers Ltd. - $99,999
HyLife Ltd. - $3,670,334
Timothy's Country Butcher Shop - $32,174
Winkler Meats Ltd. - $1,447,693

In addition to these projects, Olymel, a Canadian meatpacking and processing company headquartered in Quebec, is receiving up to $1.6 million through the Emergency Processing Fund, with a portion of the funding being used to support improved safety measures at its facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan.