OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising a $252-million aid package for Canada's agriculture and food industries in the COVID-19 pandemic.
He says $77 million of that will go to measures to keep workers in food processing safe with protective equipment and by supporting physical distancing in workplaces.
Meat-packing plants, in particular, have seen large outbreaks of the virus that causes COVID-19.
- Federal government earmarking $77M to keep food-processing industry safe
- 'Numb and very lost': Meat plant reopens as memorial held for Cargill worker
The package includes money for beef and pork producers holding animals they can't sell, a credit program for the dairy industry and a $50-million fund to buy food that spoils and send it to groups such as food banks.
The funds fall far short of the $2.6 billion request for help last month from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Trudeau said the money is a starting point.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2020.
The Canadian Press
