Current Issue

March 4, 2026

Current Conditions in Shawville 15.2°C

Abattoir co-op application submitted

Abattoir co-op application submitted

sophie@theequity.ca

The nine producers who last winter collaborated with MRC Pontiac to save the region’s only abattoir when its assets were listed for sale are one step closer to forming the co-operative that will govern the slaughterhouse once it is back up and running.
At Wednesday’s Council of Mayors meeting it was announced the group had officially submitted their application to become a solidarity co-op – a model that offers different types of memberships for different types of participants, including producers, employees and support members.
“The co-op thought it was important to have the workers be part of that structure,” said Shanna Armstrong, the MRC’s economic development director for agriculture.
“They really want it to be community oriented and really focus on bettering everyone’s business and providing something to the community. Not just being a business for profit.”
The co-operative will operate as a non-profit, governed by a board of directors made up, in the first year, by the nine founding members.
At Wednesday’s MRC meeting, a motion was passed for the MRC to become a support member of the board.
The money used to purchase the abattoir’s assets was originally designated for the MRC’s AgriSaveur project – a food processing centre that would offer local producers resources to transform raw goods they produce on-farm into additional products that can be sold directly to consumers.
Because the abattoir buildings and equipment offered a running start on the MRC’s vision for the AgriSaveur project, it was able to use this money to purchase what was the Pontiac’s only provincially-licensed slaughterhouse.
“We are very much involved with the whole process at this time. We’re working very closely with the current members,” Armstrong said.
“It all fell from the AgriSaveur project, so it is an MRC project, and we want to just make sure our vision and goals align and be a part of that structure so that we can continue to collaborate together.”
While the MRC’s immediate goal is to get the abattoir back up and running, the plan is still to evolve it to include infrastructure for other kinds of food processing as well.
To do this, the MRC will be hiring a project manager, dedicated solely to the work of bringing the AgriSaveur vision to life.
Once the co-operative is officially registered, which Armstrong expects will happen in the next few weeks, the group will begin applying for the permits it needs before it can reopen the abattoir’s doors.
“We can’t officially apply for permits until the entity itself is formed. There’s lots of work going on in the background so it’s ready to go the second we get that NEQ [the business number].”
Armstrong is hopeful the facility will reopen in the fall of this year, but said it all depends on how long the permitting process takes.



Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!



Log in to your account

ADVERTISEMENT
Calumet Media

More Local News

Abattoir co-op application submitted

sophie@theequity.ca

How to Share on Facebook

Unfortunately, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) has blocked the sharing of news content in Canada. Normally, you would not be able to share links from The Equity, but if you copy the link below, Facebook won’t block you!