A major Canadian ice cream company plans to expand its Grey County, Ont., operations, adding 200 new jobs in the area, partly through funding from the provincial government.
On Friday, Chapman’s announced it would expand its operations and build a new facility in the small town of Markdale, a project worth roughly $200 million.
The company is already the largest employer in the town, which had a population of just over 1,200 people in 2021. The expansion will add new production lines and take its total provincial workforce north of 1,000.
“This expansion comes at a critical time for Chapman’s. The competition from multinationals has only increased in recent years and this project will help us to establish a stronger competitive ground,” Chapman’s CEO, Ashley Chapman, said in a statement.
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Chapman’s is the country’s largest independent ice cream maker and, according to Friday’s announcement, uses only Canadian milk and cream.
The expansion is supported by $27 million from the Ford government’s Invest Ontario Fund.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Chapman’s latest investment in Ontario, which is a major vote of confidence in our province’s economy and workers,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.
“We’re going to continue doing whatever it takes to protect workers by cutting red tape and making Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest and create jobs.”
The announcement is a rare bright moment for the province’s manufacturing sector, as it struggles with the effects of Canada’s trade war with the United States on Ontario’s economy.
A recent report from the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario projected unemployment will increase to 7.8 per cent through 2025 and reach 8 per cent by 2026.
“Annual employment growth is projected to slow to 0.9 per cent in 2025, followed by a decline of 0.2 per cent in 2026 as US tariffs result in job losses, especially in manufacturing and labour-intensive services industries,” the financial watchdog observed.
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