The Loblaws flagship location on Carlton Street in Toronto is shown on Thursday May 2, 2013. More than 500 Loblaw employees will be losing their jobs as the company closes a distribution centre in Laval, Que. The grocery chain is also shutting a warehouse in Ottawa.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim
January 07, 2020 - 2:03 PM
MONTREAL - Grocery chain Loblaw Companies Ltd. has announced the closure of a distribution centre in Laval, Que., a move that will eliminate more than 500 jobs.
About 545 employees north of Montreal will be affected by the end of 2021 as the distribution centre is relocated to the automated complex of an Ontario subcontractor.
The grocery chain is also shutting a warehouse in Ottawa, but did not comment on the number of workers affected.
The decision to relocate the distribution centre comes as a labour contract expires at the end of the month, according to a spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers' Union.
The owner of Loblaw, Provigo, Maxi and Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec), will continue to distribute fresh and frozen food from Boucherville, a suburb south of Montreal, where some 550 people work.
The union said non-perishable food will be distributed from Cornwall, Ont.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2020.
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2020