Updated June 08, 2020

Since our last update, we have continued to deploy a significant number of prevention measures to help reduce risks to our employees and communities while fulfilling our essential role to produce safe, quality food for Canadians.

All of our sites have implemented these measures which include:

• Temperature checks for anyone entering our facilities. Visitors remain limited to essential resources.
• Ongoing enhanced sanitization of common areas and offices.
• Regular fogging of common areas. Fogging is one of the most effective methods to properly disinfect harder to reach places.
• Staggered breaks.
• Physical distancing in common areas and on production lines when possible.
• Plexiglas separations on production lines, at handwashing stations or in lunchrooms.
• Face shields and masks in production areas. We also allow employees to wear their own non-medical masks in non-production areas.
• Some of our plants were able to redirect the flow of movement to create a single point of entry and a single exit point at the site.
• Sanitizer dispensers throughout the facility.
• We continue reinforcing proper hygiene practices to our employees to prevent an infection at home or at work and have maintained the ban on all non-essential travel and site visits.

Fortunately, Canada is flattening the curve and we’re on our way to resuming almost normal lives. Unfortunately, the virus is still spreading in many communities and a few of our employees across the country have been diagnosed with COVID-19. We work closely with the local Public Health Authorities and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency each time an employee is diagnosed with the virus and ensure any learning is immediately implemented and shared with all our other facilities. Each of the incidents to date has been considered isolated by local Public Health Authorities. All of our plants remain fully operational.

Cases were confirmed at the following sites: Edmonton, AB (6); Calgary, AB (2); Mississauga, ON (2); Brampton, ON (2); Burlington, ON (1); London, ON (1); Toronto, ON (1) and Port Coquitlam, BC (1). Most are fully resolved and a few are close to being resolved as the contamination risk periods are about to end.

We want to salute our team members who have rallied to support each other and our communities, either on their own or under the leadership of the Sofina Foundation. As a result:

• Frontline health care workers in Belleville, ON, received sandwiches prepared by our local plant employees.
• 1,000 care packages were donated to Sunnybrook Hospital’s frontline workers (Toronto).
• Our head office employees have been preparing sandwiches for our greater Toronto area plant employees that they deliver daily on a rotational basis.
• Many of our employees donated their Easter turkey to various charities.
• In Western Canada, our chicken production plants offered products to employees. Our turkey plants are planning the same initiative.
• We’ve donated thousands of cases of products to various food banks and charities across the country including Second Harvest, Moisson Montreal, The Salvation Army in Abbotsford and in Chilliwack, the Abbotsford Food Bank, the Edmonton Food Bank, Calgary Coop, The Neighbourhood Organization (TNO) in Toronto, Covenant House Toronto, Good Shepherd in Toronto and in Hamilton, the Ronald McDonald House Toronto, Bloom Group in Vancouver and Life Crates.

Our employees are caring, dedicated, highly talented and work very hard to maintain our commitment to our customers and to Canadian consumers. To all our employees and their families, we say THANK YOU! We know how difficult the last few months have been. We are grateful for your continued support and value it more than you know.  

We want to reassure consumers that there is no risk of COVID-19 contamination from food. Various agencies such as the Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have confirmed that: “There is currently no evidence that food is a likely source or route of transmission of COVID-19… There is currently no evidence to suggest that this virus is circulating in animals in Canada.”

Product safety and quality remain paramount at Sofina. We will continue to go above and beyond to meet your needs for accessible, safe, quality food. While we continue to channel our passion and expertise in making great products for you, we encourage you to care for each other:

• Buy only the quantities you need so everyone has access to the products they need. There is and will continue to be enough supply for all.
• Follow strict hygiene practices to prevent the spread of the virus. Find out more here.
• Practice physical distancing.
• Check in on the elderly and anyone who might need help in these very challenging times.

From each of us at Sofina Foods, THANK YOU for your loyalty!