Olymel also said it would increase its production capacity at its poultry further processing plant in Oakville, Ontario.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image via Krugloff/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
Olymel has announced the closure of its poultry further processing plant in Paris, Ontario. The company is a Canadian leader in the production, processing, and distribution of pork and poultry meats.
In its place, the company noted that it would increase capacity at its poultry further processing plant in Oakville, located about 75 kilometres northeast of Paris. Production from the Paris plant will be transferred to the Oakville plant.
The decision to close affected the jobs of 93 employees from the Paris plant, who were informed that the closure of the plant would officially happen on December 22, 2023, providing a 14-week notice before the closure.
For those who can and wish to, Olymel said it will offer the Paris plant employees the opportunity to relocate jobs to another establishment within the company, especially in the processing and further processing facilities located in Oakville, the poultry slaughtering, cutting, and boning plant in Port Colborne, or at its two poultry processing plants in Brampton.
The relocation plan will be put in place within the next few weeks.
Oakville Plant to See Major Investment
Along with the reorganization, Olymel will invest $8 million at the Oakville plant, which will include major facility renovations starting in the coming weeks.
Included in that is the addition of one of two production lines from the Paris plant installed at the Oakville facility.
This redevelopment will also have a positive impact on the poultry products plant on the Orenda Road, Brampton plant, particularly for tumbling operations.
The reorganization will also make way for equipment to be transferred from the Paris plant to the poultry further processing plant in Sainte-Rosalie, in the Montérégie Est region of Québec, increasing production capacity for certain poultry products and improving employment prospects there.
Once the work is completed, operations at the Oakville plant will require an additional 62 employees to bring the total number of workers in the facility to 180.
The company will assess all options for the future of the Paris facilities, including putting them up for sale, and will announce its intentions at the appropriate time.
"The decision to close the Paris plant definitively was much thought over, and the choice to consolidate the Paris operations with those in Oakville was taken to ensure efficiency and cost savings," said Yanick Gervais, President and Chief Executive Officer of Olymel. "This decision will prevent the projected costly investments needed to update the company's equipment at the Paris plant, notably to eliminate noise and odour disturbances for the neighbourhood."
He continued: "After renovations are complete, the Oakville plant will be able to carry out its current operations while integrating the activities from the Paris plant into its production lines. I know that the announcement of the closure is difficult news for the Paris employees. On behalf of the company, I would like to extend appreciation to them for their years of loyal service. Between now and the closure in December, Olymel will make every effort to help in the relocation or transition to employment in another sector."
Following the closure of the Paris plant, Olymel will have five plants in Ontario: the Port Colborne poultry slaughtering, cutting, and boning plant; the Oakville further processing plant; the Westwyn poultry boning and further processing plant; the Orenda breaded products plant, both located in Brampton; and the pork further processing plant located in Cornwall.
This shuffling of assets comes on the heels of Olymel’s April announcement that it was closing the processing, cutting, and deboning processing facility in Vallée-Jonction, Québec at the end of 2023, as well as the May news of five of its sow units in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan closing.
In total, Olymel operates 24 pork and poultry processing plants and five distribution centres in Canada. The company markets its products mainly under the Olymel, Lafleur, Flamingo, La Fernandière, Pinty's, Tour Eiffel, and F. Ménard brands.