McCain Foods eyes P.E.I. training funds

Officials with McCain Foods Ltd. have been talking to the P.E.I. government about training dollars for employees during an upcoming shutdown of their Borden-Carleton plant.

Allan Campbell, the minister of innovation, said the frozen food and potato processing giant is looking for an arrangement with the government that is similar to the one P.E.I. worked out with Cavendish Farms.

"Some officials from my office had a very … successful meeting with company officials from McCain from Florenceville, N.B.," said Campbell.

"I guess McCain is in a very similar situation as Cavendish Farms. They are experiencing a slowdown because of the downturn in the economy and they are planning a shutdown."

The P.E.I. government is providing approximately $600,000 in training for Cavendish Farms workers during several week-long shutdowns in New Annan over the next few months. The company said the decision to suspend operations was a consequence of the weak U.S. dollar.

Campbell said he expects McCain Foods will come back to the government with details regarding the shutdown and the kind of training the company is proposing for its workers.

He said if McCain Foods receives funding, the amount will likely be similar to what Cavendish Farms will receive per worker.

"We'll have to look at the length of the period they propose to be shut down and the number of employees, but I would guess it'd be fairly similar," said Campbell.

"It's a standard formula — the number of employees multiplied by the training dollar — so I'm guessing although the employee number will be somewhat smaller, that the rate per employee will be very similar."

McCain Foods Ltd. said its Borden-Carleton plant will be shuttered from Dec. 23 to Jan. 4, which will affect approximately 150 workers.

The government money would allow the company to provide extra training for its plant workers during that time, which would mean employees would not have to apply for employment insurance.

Campbell said other companies in P.E.I. have made similar requests for training funding and all the requests are being considered.

"We have an opportunity here, training is a good thing and the better trained workforce we have on P.E.I., the better off our economy is," he said.