Molson Coors begins work on state-of-the-art facility

It’s official, work has begun on the new $500-million Molson Coors brewery in south shore Longueuil.

At a ground-breaking ceremony Friday morning, supply manager Matthew Hook said it will be the company’s most modern brewing facility and distribution centre.

The company announced last year it was leaving the Montreal site on Notre-Dame Street where it opened a brewery in 1786 to build a new operation in Longueuil.

At the time, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante expressed her disappointment at the move.

READ MORE: Molson Coors building new brewery in Longueuil

But Molson Coors Canada argues it represents one of the largest investments in the company’s 230-year history and demonstrates its commitment to the Greater Montreal area.

It is expected that anywhere between 500 and 800 workers will be required to build the state-of-art facility and that local trades, contractors and operators are a crucial component.

Additionally, the company plans on maintaining its administrative offices at the Montreal site.

Hook also stressed how the new plant will address environmental concerns.

“The new brewery will be equipped with improved technologies that will allow us to reduce our energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and carbon footprint such as optimized equipment layouts to reduce beer loss and waste and a state-of-the-art carbon dioxide recovery system,” he said in a written statement.

READ MORE: Molson Coors plans to build new $500 million Montreal brewery

The ceremony, however, wasn’t without controversy.

Teamsters Canada union members, who felt snubbed after not being formally invited to take part, chose to crash the party — holding their own press conference ahead of the official ceremony.

While the union maintains it is pleased Molson chose to stay within the metropolitan area, it criticized the brewery for switching production from brown-bottled beer to canned beer, saying it will have negative economic, social and environmental consequences.

The union says the switch could lead to job losses and revenue shortfalls, as canned lines require fewer workers.

On the environmental front, the union says cans are single-use containers, whereas bottles can be re-used up to 17 times before being recycled through crushing and melting — with processing available in the Montreal area. Cans, according to the Teamsters, can only be recycled out of province and up to one-third end up in landfills.

The Teamsters hope Quebec’s newly appointed environment minister, MarieChantal Chassé will hear their concerns.

The new facility is expected to be finished sometime in 2021.