Olymel has informed the United Food and Commercial Workers Union that the Blainville and Laval, Quebec plants will be closed, effective April 28, 2023. The twelve-week notice period conforms to the Quebec Labor Standards Act. The plants employ 135 and 35 workers respectively. Production of hams, deli meats and specialty products will be transferred to other Olymel plants. The Cooperative will offer employment to displaced workers and establish outplacement counseling.
Yanick Gervais president and CEO of Olymel stated, “The decision to close our two processing plants is part of the reorganization that began more than a year ago and is due to the ability of our facilities to produce the same products and therefore achieve savings and efficiencies.” He added, “I believe that today’s announcement should enable us to achieve our operational optimization objectives more rapidly. This is in the context of unfavorable economic conditions with higher material costs, labor shortages and weakness in certain markets.”