RCMP in Alberta are reviewing whether the COVID-19 death of a worker at a Cargill meat-packing plant last spring is a criminal matter.

Cargill says work is resuming at its meat-processing plant in Guelph, Ont., after it was shut down earlier this month due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Cargill says it is temporarily closing its meat processing facility in Guelph, Ont., amid an outbreak of COVID-19 among its employees. 

Thom Oulton, the chair of the Chicken Farmers of Nova Scotia, wants the province to carry out tests on the plant's essential workers as quickly as possible.

The Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta has received 3,209 COVID-19 claims since the pandemic started.

New numbers from the food industry show there is a shortage of processing workers across Canada. One expert says COVID-19 outbreaks at meat packing plants are making it harder to recruit workers.

Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the last recorded case at the Case Ready plant, which has 400 workers, was Aug. 10.

McDonald's Canada says it will return to sourcing only Canadian beef in September after having to import beef temporarily due to COVID-19.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Cargill Ltd. that claims the meat-packing company failed to take reasonable precautions to protect its workers in Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outbreaks at two southern Alberta meat-processing plants this spring made hundreds of people sick with COVID-19.