Member of Parliament David Tilson (Dufferin-Caledon) announced a $1.5-million investment in Holly Park Meat Packers through the Government of Canada’s Slaughter Improvement Programme.

"Investing in Holly Park Meat Packers will help increase their slaughter capacity, cut costs and improve operations making the industry more profitable and competitive," said Mr Tilson. "This is one more way that Canada’s Economic Action plan is strengthening the Canadian economy, helping the meat packing and processing sector and investing in the riding of Dufferin-Caledon."

Founded in 1979, Holly Park Meat Packers is one of Ontario’s largest provincially inspected meat processing facilities and employs 100 people in its Cookstown and Caledon locations.

This federal investment will allow Holly Park to redesign their facility and purchase and install new equipment and technology, giving farmers the opportunity to access niche markets. The company will also use this investment to develop and implement training of new procedures required to become a federally inspected facility.

The Government of Canada’s $50-million Slaughter Improvement Programme makes federal loans available to support sound business plans aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving operations of red meat packing and processing operations in Canada. Last month’s budget provided an additional $10 million for the programme.

With more than $20 billion in sales, the red meat industry is the single largest employer in the food industry in Canada.