Government of Canada Grants Funding to Cuisine J.-F. Poirier

SAINT-JEAN-DE-MATHA, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Dec. 9, 2011) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, announces that Cuisine J.-F. Poirier Inc. has been granted financial assistance to enable the firm to improve its productivity and strengthen its competitive standing.

"The Government of Canada has chosen to lend its support to Lanaudière's Cuisine J.-F. Poirier because the firm's project will help create jobs in a sector other than forestry, an industry on which the region's economy is dependent," explains Minister Lebel.

To pursue its growth, Cuisine J.-F. Poirier needs to build a new processing plant and acquire equipment that will allow it to increase its production capabilities and assure the safety of its prepared foods. The company also intends to launch a series of new products developed in recent months, which should result in increased sales.

Based in the Lanaudière municipality of Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Cuisine J.-F. Poirier produces flavoured, preservative-free mayonnaises. Its products are available in a large number of Quebec grocery stores, produce markets, restaurants and hotels.

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This $50,000 repayable contribution has been granted through the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE).

The TISQFE was brought into force in June 2010 to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to ensure their growth and create and maintain employment. The initiative's goal is also to support small and medium-sized businesses in these communities in their efforts to secure their viability and sustainable development.

This past July 14, the Government of Canada announced its intention to allocate a further $20 million in funding over two years to support the Quebec silvicultural sector for the years 2011 and 2012.

This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include, for example, the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects and the $230 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also received their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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