Brantford Plant Shutdown: Maple Leaf Foods to Cease Operations by Early 2025
On Wednesday, Maple Leaf Foods revealed its decision to shutter its Brantford facility. The company’s strategy involves relocating the majority of its Further Processed Poultry production to other sites within its network gradually by early 2025.
Citing the necessity for substantial ongoing investments to sustain operations in Brantford, the company noted that the 100-year-old facility posed challenges for long-term viability.
“The decision to close any plant is one that we take very seriously,” said Maple Leaf Foods President and CEO Curtis Frank. “We are very proud of our team at Brantford and appreciate the great work they do each and every day.”
“I was very disappointed to learn today that one of our City’s longstanding food plants will be relocating its operations to more modern facilities in Ontario,” said Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis. “My first concern on hearing the news was the significant impact this will have on our community, particularly for the employees and their families.”
Davis reported that in his conversation with Maple Leafs executives on Wednesday, he discovered that the aging facility cannot be modernized to comply with current operating standards.
“I was heartened for the employees to hear that this is not happening overnight, as Maple Leaf will be closing the plant on a phased basis over the next eight to ten months,” said the Mayor. “I was also very encouraged that during the phased closure the company will be working to relocate as many employees as possible to other Maple Leaf plants in or near to Brantford.”
“Consolidating production into our current network allows us to reallocate our resources and increase our efficiencies by further optimizing the existing, more modern facilities in our network,” explained Frank. “This supports our vision to be the most sustainable protein company on Earth and our commitment to produce world-class products safely and efficiently as we support the growth of our protein business.”
In 2023, Maple Leaf Foods inaugurated Canada’s largest poultry processing plant in London, which currently boasts a workforce of over 1,000 employees.
Meanwhile, the Brantford plant sustains approximately 170 salaried and unionized workers.
