The announcement was made by Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, at Fromagerie Médard in Saint Gédéon, which is receiving up to C$969,000 (US$775,590) through the Dairy Processing Investment Fund (DPIF) and up to C$1m (US$800,000) through Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED).
The funding will be used for new equipment to increase productivity and reduce production costs. By 2025, it is expected that the funding will create an additional two jobs, and increase the milk used in the production process by 74%.
Nutrinor Cooperative also benefitted from the DPIF, receiving up to $395,000 (US$316,000) to purchase an ultra filtration system. The project will allow the cooperative to increase its production of liquid dairy protein concentrate, increase its quantity of processed milk, and increase the yield of the cheese factories it supplies.
By 2023, it's expected that the funding will create an additional five jobs and increase the milk used in the production process by 48%. This builds on the C$293,000 (US$235,000) DPIF investment in 2019 to extend the shelf life of products and reduce production costs.
"This investment will help us acquire state-of-the-art equipment that will allow Nutrinor to produce liquid milk protein concentrate, be even more competitive in the market and increase the milk processing capacity of our member producers here in our region at the Alma plant," said Luc Belley, vice president, operations, agri-food sector at Nutrinor.
Nutrinor Cooperative, located in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, is one of the largest food cooperatives in Quebec. It has more than 900 members and is involved in agri-food, agriculture, hardware stores and energy.
Fromagerie Boivin is receiving up to C$1.34m (US$1.07m) through the DPIF for new equipment to increase production and up to C$800,000 (US$640,000) through Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions to expand its building and acquire strategic equipment to optimize the production of processed cheese and modernize the packaging line. The project will provide more space so employees can practice physical distancing.
Fromagerie Boivin processes approximately 20m liters of milk to produce 2.3m kilograms of cheese. It provides full-time employment to 85 people.
The DPIF, valued at C$100m (US$80m), is designed to help dairy processors modernize their operations, improving productivity and competitiveness.
Canada’s 20201 budget proposed further investment of C$292.5m (US$234m) over seven years to help all supply-managed processors, including poultry and egg processors.
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions provides funding and support to Quebec businesses and regions. It focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit economic organizations.
There are more than 500 dairy processors in Canada. In total, they generated close to C$17bn (US$13.6bn) in sales in 2020, and support more than 25,000 direct jobs. When accounting for both direct and indirect employment, the dairy processing sector supports close to 211,000 jobs.