Pharmaceutical manufacturing plant plans turn away from Birds Hill

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This article was published 21/01/2025 (434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Designs for a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant near Birds Hill Provincial Park have been paused — and it’s unclear when, and where, the facility may open.

Last April, upwards of 1,100 people signed a petition opposing the proposed construction of a site roughly four kilometres outside from the park northeast of Winnipeg.

Mittal Canada considered purchasing 20 acres; the land would be used for creating injectable emergency and non-emergency drugs, a spokesman said at the time.

Nine months later, there’s been no public update. Mittal Canada’s website has been wiped of information.

The projected cost for building the plant came in higher than budgeted, said spokesman and real estate agent Jacky Maan. He pointed to Manitoba Hydro estimates — the initial price of bringing electricity to the site would surpass $10 million, he said.

“We can’t afford millions of dollars just for hydro,” Maan asserted.

Manitoba Hydro doesn’t provide information on specific projects. The Crown corporation can conduct studies to identify installation costs for commercial and industrial ventures with large energy demands, media relations officer Peter Chura wrote in a statement.

Hydro’s energy is among the lowest priced in North America, Chura noted.

Hydro fees have shifted Mittal Canada’s gaze from the Rural Municipality of St. Clements land. The municipality’s chief administrative officer confirmed St. Clements never received a formal development application.

Instead, Mittal Canada is seeking new locations and government funding, Maan said.

“We still want to do that plant,” he continued. “I’d love to see that plant especially in Manitoba, especially in Winnipeg.”

Leadership has been eyeing the former Merit Functional Foods facility on Brookside Boulevard. Merit, a pea and canola protein producer, was put into receivership in March 2023 after defaulting on $95 million in loans.

Hydro has already been hooked up, which is a positive, Maan said. Mittal Canada is willing to put money into the 94,000-square-foot plant (which opened in 2021) to make it suitable for pharmaceutical manufacturing, he added.

PricewaterhouseCoopers took over as receiver for Merit Functional Foods last year. The Winnipeg site may already have a new buyer in the works, Maan said, highlighting his conversations with Merit.

PricewaterhouseCoopers didn’t respond to questions by print deadline. A February 2024 report from the company said the plant was still for sale, but had expressions of interest.

Mittal Canada is tabbing $100 million for its own facility, Maan said. It’s seeking up to $30 million in government grants to support the plant’s launch. Mittal Canada hasn’t yet found funding.

Maan declined to share who’s behind Mittal Canada. The organization is tied to three Manitoba businesses conducting dental surgeries, he previously said.

Mittal Canada isn’t a registered business name in Manitoba. Registration will come alongside concrete plans for the manufacturing facility, Maan said.

He also declined to list what drugs Mittal Canada aims to produce. Last April, those details weren’t finalized.

The site wouldn’t manufacture chemicals; instead, it would import chemicals to create injectable drugs, which would be packaged on site, Maan said.

Opposition by Birds Hill-area residents didn’t cause Mittal Canada to change its plans, Maan stated.

“People would understand,” he submitted, noting the factory would provide employment.

Mittal Canada previously advertised an ability to create more than 1,000 jobs in the area.

Colin Zelinsky described feeling “quite pleased” that the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant wouldn’t populate the area. He’s lived in the Pineridge Village Mobile Home Park, near the initially proposed facility, for 14 years.

“I feel that myself and my community, we all did a really good job of … standing up and showing our opposition against having this pharmaceutical plant in our backyards,” Zelinsky said. “If they go ahead with a pharmaceutical plant anywhere within Manitoba, really, I just hope they find an appropriate place to do so.”

Nicole Goossen started the petition opposing the plant last year. The community wasn’t against the facility itself, just its location, she underlined.

“Everybody came to this area for quiet country living,” Goossen said. “To all of a sudden be starting to live in an industrial area, we weren’t on board.”

Neither she nor her neighbours received updates about the plant after learning of the facility in April.

Mittal Canada doesn’t have a timeline for opening its pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. The schedule depends on finding a proper location, Maan said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com