Canada Bread to close Quebec frozen bakery facility

January 6, 2011, Toronto – Canada Bread Bakery Limited will close its frozen bakery facility in Laval, Que., on March 31.

The Laval bakery, which employs approximately 55 people, makes a variety of products, including crusty and specialty breads and rolls. Production of Canada Bread goods will be consolidated at the company’s other frozen bakery facilities. The regional sales office in Laval will remain open for business.

“This closure was a difficult decision to make and we will do everything we can to ease the impact on our people,” said Réal Ménard, president of Canada Bread’s Frozen Bakery division. “However, it will allow us to improve the cost structure and competitiveness of our business, while continuing to deliver the same high standards of products and service to our customers and consumers.”

Canada Bread will give employees affected by the closure first consideration for employment at its other facilities in Quebec, including 60 jobs that will need to be filled for the upcoming summer production period.

Restructuring and other costs related to the closure, including severance, decommissioning and asset write-downs, are not expected to exceed $5.8 million before tax.

Although the company has no immediate plans for the bakery, it will keep the facility and consider it for other potential new business and development opportunities in the future.

Canada Bread Company Limited, which is 90 per cent owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc., employs approximately 8,000 people across North America and the United Kingdom. In 2009, Canada Bread had sales totaling $1.7 billion.