More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Canada's food manufacturers are cutting capacity and focusing on key products as they confront labour shortages and supply chain bottlenecks that show no signs of easing.
Shipping backlogs, delays in obtaining packaging and ingredients and high worker absenteeism due to COVID-19 isolation protocolsare interfering with the availability of certain products, experts say.
The situation has prompted some food suppliers to inform grocers about the steps they're taking to fulfil orders, including finding new sources for materials, adding transportation capacity and even changing product formulations in some cases.
Shoppers should expect intermittent issues with product availability, said Michael Graydon, CEO of Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada.
"There are certain commodities that will come and go and be a bit sporadic," he said. "But the essentials in life will there."
Many food manufacturers are coping with labour and product shortages by concentrating on key product flavours and sizes with the highest demand in order to maximize efficiencies, Graydon said.
Still, others have been forced to reduce production as absenteeism reaches up to 20 per cent in some plants, Graydon said.
"You end up having to cut significant manufacturing capacity because you don't have the labour," he said. "We already have high demand for products because the restaurant industry is virtually down and out and home consumption increased."
Meanwhile, supply chain issues are also impacting the flow of goods, especially over the border.
Shipping problems are delaying the delivery of U.S.-made products to Canadian distribution centres as well as the availability of raw materials like packaging, experts say.
"There's a massive shortage of truck drivers," Graydon said. "Goods aren't moving and the cost of moving those goods is going up."
Compounding the situation is a new federal vaccine mandate for truckers, he said.
"It's the timing," Graydon said. "This new variant has had a significant impact on absenteeism ... we can't afford to lose more drivers right now."
Sylvain Charlebois, Dalhousie University professor of food distribution and policy, said food access in Canada will be a challenge for some time.
"There are bottlenecks throughout the supply chain, especially in processing," he said. "That impacts distribution and eventually the ability for grocers to restock shelves."
Consumers will see fewer discounts and products on supermarkets shelves as a result, Charlebois said.
"Promotions are going to be really, really rare," he said. "And shoppers may occasionally notice half-empty shelves."
Meanwhile, the shortage of truckers will make the border less fluid, leading to delays in obtaining both raw ingredients and finished products, Charlebois said.
Av Maharaj, chief administrative officer for Kraft Heinz Canada, said his company is not immune to the current supply chain challenges across the food industry.
Shipping costs have gone up dramatically and there is a scarcity of certain raw materials, he said.
Still, Maharaj said Kraft Heinz's facility outside of Montreal has rigorous safety protocols in place and low absenteeism, allowing it to operate at full production.
"The factory continues to run at a maximum capacity to meet demands of Canadian consumers," he said.
Lores Tome, a spokesperson for Kellogg Canada Inc., said higher at-home consumption coupled with supply chain challenges have impacted the availability of some products in Canada, such as Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal.
These "intermittent shortages" reflect the challenging operating environment all manufacturers are experiencing, she said in an e-mailed statement.
About 1,400 union workers at Kellogg's plants in the United States were on strike for several weeks last year. An agreement was reached Dec. 21.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2022.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”