A government fund to upgrade federal lab facilities across the country will put up almost $1 million for renos at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Burnaby, B.C. lab.
“This investment of almost $1 million will go toward updating and enhancing this facility,” Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton said in a release Friday. “As a result, lab staff will have a modern work environment to carry out the important work they do.”
That work includes microbiological testing for pathogens such as listeria, salmonella and E. coli, as well as testing for other food and marine toxins and allergens, the government said.
CFIA has such labs strategically located across Canada, the government said, in order to provide timely food safety analytical services.
“The need to access rapid testing results is particularly important during food safety investigations.”
The funding for the upgrades will come from the government’s $250 million, two-year Modernizing Federal Laboratories Initiative, which it describes as a “job-creating” investment to provide economic stimulus across Canada.
