TEESWATER, Ont. – The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, visited Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd. (Gay Lea Foods) to announce an investment of up to $16.9 million through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Dairy Processing Investment Fund (DPIF). With this funding, Gay Lea Foods is expanding its Teeswater, Ont. facility with modern equipment to improve productivity and competitiveness.

FedDev Ontario’s investment of $10 million will support the acquisition and installation of advanced processing equipment and systems. This will allow Gay Lea Foods to advance its scientific and technical capability to produce new, high-value milk products, particularly for the health food and nutraceutical markets.

Funding of $6.9 million through the DPIF will allow Gay Lea Foods to adopt innovative processes and equipment to minimize by-product waste and reduce the plant’s environmental footprint. The project will also provide additional capacity, and as such, the co-operative will use more high-quality milk from Ontario’s dairy farmers in the making of their value-added products.

The combined investment will create approximately 13 new skilled jobs and help to maintain 50 at the Teeswater facility.

This project aligns with the Government of Canada’s recently announced Rural Economic Development Strategy, a plan for stronger collaboration and long-term strategic investments to respond to the unique needs of rural communities.

Quick Facts

• Gay Lea Foods Cooperative Ltd. has been in operation as a Canadian owned co-operative for 60 years with over 4,300 producer and investor shareholders on 1,400 dairy farms in Ontario and Manitoba. Gay Lea Foods is the first to include licensed dairy cow and dairy goat members, processing both kinds of milk into a range of products
• The Dairy Processing Investment Fund (DPIF) was established to provide non-repayable funding to dairy processors for investments that will improve productivity and competitiveness, and help them prepare for market changes resulting from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). To date, 32 dairy processors have been approved for funding valued at over $34.7 million for a wide array of cheese, yogurt, cream and butter projects.
• FedDev Ontario supports innovation and growth in southern Ontario. The Business Scale-Up and Productivity initiative helps to accelerate the growth of firms and with the adoption of new, innovative technologies that support scale-up, productivity, and entry into new markets to help companies become globally competitive