Molson Coors moving its BC operations to Chilliwack
Posted August 4, 2016 10:22 am.
Last Updated August 4, 2016 2:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After announcing late last year its Burrard Street facility in Vancouver would be closing, Molson Coors now says it will build a new brewery on a 36-acre site at Highway One and Vedder Road in the Fraser Valley.
It will open in late 2018 or early 2019, at which time the Burrard brewery will cease operations.
Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz says this is a big deal and once the company announced it was leaving Vancouver, she wanted her city to be first in line.
LISTEN: Mayor Gaetz speaks with NEWS 1130 anchors Amanda Wawryk and Jim Bennie
“We love welcoming investment and CEPCO worked really hard this November to bring them in. They talked to them about our low taxes and the way that the city works with business. We have low development cost charges and are business friendly.”
Gaetz adds water quality was another factor in the company’s decision to move and there are obvious benefits to brewing in the city, including job creation.
Vice-President of Corporate Affairs at Molson Coors Gavin Thompson says it was important to stay in the province. “BC is great because you’re right on the US border but you’re also right along a coastline and you have great access into Western Canadian markets, so it really is a key point of our overall North American supply chain.”
Thompson adds it’s too early to estimate the number of people who will be working at the brewery, but the construction phase should employ about 1,000 people.
