Canada invests in research to up its meat processing capacity

The governments of Canada and Ontario are expanding Ontario’s meat processing sector by investing $127,000 to support a research initiative by Meat and Poultry Ontario (MPO). The project will identify opportunities to increase meat processing capacity in order to address a growing demand for abattoir services across the province.

The demand for processing facilities in Ontario, especially in the North, continues to grow. In response, MPO has begun researching a strategy that pairs skills development with innovative technologies to increase efficiency and capacity across the sector. This work builds on three additional federal-provincial funding programs introduced over the last year to deal with more urgent challenges:

• $2 million for food safety initiatives
• $2.25 million for provincial meat plants to make workplace modifications to increase worker health and safety during COVID-19
• $4 million for rapid measures to increase capacity

This project is being funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, 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.