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$395 Million Investment from Maple Leaf Foods Establishes Hamilton as a National Leader in Food Manufacturing
 HAMILTON, ON – October 20, 2011 – Maple Leaf’s $395 million investment in Hamilton is part of its strategic capital investment of approximately $560 million to establish a world-class, highly efficient prepared meats network in Canada. Not only will this significant investment introduce new, leading manufacturing technologies to this country and strengthen the future of the Canadian food industry, it will bring more living wage jobs to Hamilton and will make the city a national leader in food manufacturing. Over 750 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the new plant and 670 permanent jobs will be created upon completion.“I am thrilled that Hamilton has been chosen to play a major role in Maple Leaf Food’s national plans,” says Mayor Bratina. “On behalf of City Council and the City of Hamilton I want to thank Maple Leaf Foods for this strategic investment. In the last three years Maple Leaf Foods has announced investments of over half a billion dollars and brought over 1,000 jobs to our community. For Hamilton tax payers, these investments by Maple Leaf Foods mean that our City will increase non-residential assessment, derive more water and sewer revenues, and gain over $2.6 million in development charges.” This modern plant will produce wieners and deli meats for national markets and the investment will ensure the competitiveness of both Maple Leaf Foods and Hamilton on a world stage. The centerpiece of this network will be the new $395 million, 402,000 sq. ft prepared meats facility in Hamilton. It will be a centre of excellence on par with best-in-class plants in North America. The new facility will employ the highest standard of environmental management and like Canada Bread’s new bakery, will be one of only a handful of Canadian manufacturing facilities built to be LEED Silver certified. The new facility also represents the clean manufacturing sector and will be in the Red Hill Business Park, on close to 50 acres located near the corner of Glover Road and Twenty Road. “We are very proud that Hamilton will be home to this world class facility, which will produce great tasting products supported by leading edge technologies that will be a first in Canada,” said Rick Young, Executive Vice President, Maple Leaf Foods. “Through this investment we look forward to further strengthening our presence in the City, and being a vital part of this community’s fast growing food industry.” The food industry is Canada’s largest manufacturing industry by employment, producing nearly 1 in 7 Canadian manufacturing jobs. This investment represents the single largest investment in the food industry in Canada. Hamilton continues to work hard to attract clean and diverse industries and business. “The City thanks Maple Leaf Foods for their investment and confidence in the City and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our working relationship,” says Mayor Bratina. |
