Sweet deal for Lantic sugar: Quebec invests $65M to modernize Montreal plant

Lantic sugar plans to spend $200 million to grow its production capacity at its plant in Montreal to help meet increased demand. It will receive $65 million in assistance from Quebec. The Lantic sugar refinery is shown in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

A 135-year-old sugar company based in Montreal's east end is modernizing its refining plant with the financial assistance of the Quebec government and Investissement Quebec.

Lantic will receive a total of $65 million from both sources: $40 million from the government's ESSOR program which helps companies develop, and $25 million from Investissement Quebec.

Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy made the announcement in Montreal on Monday.

The value of the sugar company's entire project is $200 million, a Quebec press release said, which will allow the company to meet the growing demand of its industrial customers.

Lantic plans to purchase equipment and reconfigure its building on Notre Dame Street, install a new production line and automate part of its loading operations, allowing it to increase its refining capacity by 100,000 tonnes per year, the release explained.

The company also operates sugarcane refineries in Quebec City and Vancouver and has a sugar beet processing plant in Taber, Alberta.