Reading Time: 2 minutes Avian influenza has been confirmed at two sites in Quebec and another in Ontario, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday. CFIA said it had quarantined two premises in Quebec after confirming an H5 type of avian flu in birds on a commercial poultry farm on Tuesday in the regional municipality (RCM) of Val-Saint-Francois, just […] Read more
Avian flu hits flocks in Quebec, another in Ontario
Eleven control zones now in place in Ontario, six in Alberta
Top court affirms hefty fine for man behind Quebec maple syrup heist
Back to prison if fine not paid in 10 years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The man behind a decade-old maple syrup heist in Quebec will have to pay a $9 million fine, Canada’s top court said on Thursday, upholding an earlier ruling by a lower court. A group of people in Quebec siphoned off maple syrup worth over $18 million from a reservoir and replaced it with […] Read more
Quebec group seeks to sue beef packers over pricing
Group's class-action application alleges price-fixing dating back to 2015
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Quebec consumer protection group intends to launch a class action lawsuit against four major beef processors in Canada and the U.S., alleging a “meat pricing conspiracy.” “At a time of high inflation, it is unacceptable to make the price of beef even more expensive than it already is,” Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer for […] Read more
GM ramps up EV push with plans to make battery materials in Canada
Automaker and BASF both plan CAM plants at Becancour
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — General Motors and South Korea’s POSCO Chemical will build a $400 million facility to produce battery materials in Canada as the carmaker ramps up plans to produce mainly electric vehicles (EVs) in the future, the companies said Monday. The plant will produce cathode active material (CAM) for vehicle batteries at Becancour, Que. Cathodes […] Read more
Can buckwheat make a long, slow comeback?
Manitoba acres are still down, but buyers hope to contract western Canadian growers
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not as easy as it used to be to find buckwheat honey in Manitoba. The province was once the buckwheat capital of Canada, with as many as 135,000 acres in 1979, but the area in recent years has been steady around only 5,000 acres. Although there’s demand for buckwheat grown in Western Canada, industry […] Read more
Quebec leads indoor urban agriculture trend
Guide Canada: LEDs plus cheap electricity opens new opportunities
Reading Time: 7 minutes Quebec is already a leader in urban agriculture. It has many small urban farms and a number of community-led rooftop gardens, and is home to the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse operation, Lufa Farms, which recently expanded into a new 163,000-square-foot greenhouse atop a former Sears warehouse in the St-Laurent area of Montreal. The Quebec […] Read more
B.C. floods may tighten market for real Christmas trees
'We're basically shut down until the water recedes'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Finding the perfect real Christmas tree will be harder and more expensive this year. Canada, the world’s top exporter of natural Christmas trees, is grappling with a shortage that will likely be exacerbated by historic flooding in British Columbia, where some tree farms are underwater. A phenomenon known as an atmospheric […] Read more
Canada’s second-largest pension fund reveals new climate targets
Reading Time: < 1 minute Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s No. 2 pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec announced plans on Tuesday to completely exit oil production by the end of 2022 and reduce carbon intensity by 60 per cent by 2030. As part of the same plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Montreal-based Caisse plans […] Read more
Olymel to close former F. Menard bacon plant
Pork further-processing plant at Henryville to shut in November
Reading Time: < 1 minute Meat packer Olymel plans to shut a pork further-processing plant it operates in Quebec’s Monteregie by mid-November and pick up the work at its other sites. Olymel, the meats arm of Sollio Co-operative, said Wednesday it will permanently close the bacon plant at Henryville, about 60 km southeast of Montreal, effective Nov. 12. The closure […] Read more
Striking Olymel workers accept new six-year deal
Slaughter could restart Friday at earliest, company says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Striking workers at a major hog slaughter and cutting plant in Quebec’s Beauce region have agreed to a new six-year contract that could see slaughter resume Friday at the earliest. Olymel and the CSN-affiliated Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) announced Tuesday afternoon that unionized workers at the company’s Vallee-Jonction plant, south of Quebec City, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
