Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announces job cuts, closure of research operations

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says it is closing seven of its research operations as part of the federal government's efforts to cut the size of the public service.

The federal department said research centres in Guelph, Ont., Quebec City and Lacombe, Alta., as well as four satellite research farms across Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are closing.

It said so far, approximately 665 department positions have also been reduced and nearly 1,050 employees received notices on Thursday.

"There are no imminent site closures, and any wind-down of scientific operations would follow a careful decision process that could take up to 12 months," the department said in a statement Friday.

"As such, it is too early to determine and share details on final workforce impacts."

AAFC said, like other federal departments, its job cuts follow the identification of savings over three years, while remaining focused on its core mandate.

Research centres in Quebec, Guelph and Lacombe did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

Lacombe County said in a social media post it was deeply disappointed with the federal government's "sudden" decision to close the Lacombe Research and Development Centre and called on Ottawa to pause the move.

"For more than a century, this research station has been a fixture of agricultural advancement in Western Canada," said Lacombe County Reeve John Ireland in the post on Friday.

"You cannot easily replicate 119 years of research history, specialized land, and long-term trials elsewhere. Once this site is lost, it's gone forever."

The county said more than 100 centre employees and their families are affected by the closure, as well as their industry partners.

The Lacombe centre studies livestock and meat production, which its website says enhances the economic stability and reduces the environmental impact of livestock production. It says it also supports the Canadian fresh meat processing sector "in supplying safe, high quality fresh meat with good storage life, mostly beef and pork."

The Guelph research centre says on its website it "focuses on research and development in food safety and value added food attributes to help foster a profitable agri-food sector in Canada."

Research at the Quebec centre focuses on sustaining the agriculture sector in a cold, humid climate, among other topics.