Coke Canada invests $141 million to expand Brampton operations

Coca-Cola Canada Bottling is investing $141 million to renovate and expand operations at its Brampton facility, a cash influx that will create hundreds of construction jobs and could allow the company to add to its local workforce which is already over 1,300 employees. 

On Tuesday, February 17, the beverage manufacturer announced the expansion project will create roughly 500 construction jobs temporarily and enhance production at the Brampton plant by at least 20 million cases annually.

The announcement was made at the Coca-Cola Brampton facility at 15 Westcreek Boulevard where company officials were joined by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, MP and President of the Treasury Board of Canada Shafqat Ali (Brampton—Chinguacousy Park) and Brampton MPPs.

“This is the largest single investment our owners have made in our business to date,” Todd Parsons, Chief Executive Officer of Coke Canada Bottling, said during the announcement.  “The new production line will be the most technologically advanced in the country and will allow us to produce more beverages locally, supplying Brampton, across Ontario, and the eastern part of Canada for decades to come.”

In the last seven years, since the company became an independent, family-owned business, Coke Canada Bottling has invested more than $230 million in its Brampton manufacturing and distribution operations. The facility employs more than 1,300 workers.

Parson said that the company remains committed to making long-term investments in Brampton and across Canada.

“We are not done yet,” he stated. “We are proud to be Brampton’s local bottler for the long term."

Todd Parsons, President and CEO of Coke Canada Bottling spoke during Tuesday’s expansion announcement in Brampton.

(Government of Ontario)

The announcement for the expansion project was also welcomed by Premier Ford, who said, “It is another vote of confidence in Ontario’s world-class workers.”

While the expansion project will create 500 jobs during the construction phase, it is unclear how many permanent jobs will be added in Brampton once the construction phase is completed, or when the expanded production line is expected to become operational.

The Pointer reached out to Coke Canada’s media relations team with questions about the long-term employment impact of expansion in Brampton and the construction timeline of the project. They have not responded.

Premier Doug Ford visits the Coke Canada Bottling facility in Brampton during Tuesday’s $141-million expansion announcement.

(Government of Ontario)

According to a press release from the Province, the Brampton expansion will be built exclusively by Canadian tradespeople and will have at least 75 percent of materials sourced domestically.

The expansion of one of Brampton’s big employers comes at the same time another is facing ongoing uncertainty. Brampton continues to grapple with what the future will hold for the Stellantis auto assembly in the city. The facility has been idled since February last year, leaving more than 3,000 workers in limbo.

The operational pause that was supposed to last only for eight weeks stretched to more than eight months, and then, in October last year, Stellantis announced it was shifting production for the Next Generation Jeep Compass from Brampton to Illinois.

That decision created widespread uncertainty within the entire Canadian auto sector, and raised a number of questions about what would happen to the hundreds of millions of dollars committed by the federal and provincial governments to Stellantis operations in Brampton and Windsor.

In 2022, Ottawa approved $529 million for Stellantis through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to retool operations at the Brampton and Windsor plants, contingent on keeping the production at both facilities.

Apart from what Ottawa has committed, Ontario also announced $513 million in 2022 for both plants under a separate deal; $55 million has already been given to Stellantis, while the rest of the funding was withheld after the Province said Stellantis had violated its 2023 contractual obligations with Unifor.

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