MISSISSAUGA — The Ontario government is welcoming a $33.4 million investment by Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee, a leading coffee and tea manufacturer in Mississauga. This investment will boost local manufacturing and create new, good-paying jobs in the community.

“Local manufacturers, like Mother Parkers, are at the heart of communities across the province, creating good-paying jobs for local families and attracting more investments,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “We’re proud to support this homegrown success story through our Regional Development Program as they continue to innovate and grow.”

Mother Parkers is a fourth-generation family-owned manufacturer and supplier and a true Ontario success story. Over the last century, Mother Parkers has grown from a small wholesale grocery distributor in Toronto into a global tea and coffee company, manufacturing private label products for some of the world’s largest retailers and restaurant chains, as well as its own brands.

The company’s investment will add a new cold coffee and tea extracts manufacturing facility next to its existing facilities. This will enable the company to expand its product offerings with a completely new product line. As part of this investment, the Ontario government is providing Mother Parkers with $5 million through the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream of the province’s Regional Development Program.

“We are very pleased to have the Ontario government’s investment as Mother Parkers continues to expand our Mississauga campus and grow our contributions to the regional economy,” said Fred Schaeffer, President & CEO of Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee. “The support we’ve received through the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Competitiveness Fund is helping us to move quickly to compete in one of North America’s fastest-growing beverage categories.”

Ontario is investing more than $100 million through the Regional Development Program from 2019 to 2023 to strengthen advanced manufacturing sectors in regions across the province. The program provides cost-shared funding to businesses, municipalities and economic development organizations to help local communities attract investment, diversify their economies, and create jobs.

To date, Ontario has provided companies with $74 million in support through the Regional Development Program. This funding leverages $804 million in investments for 71 projects, helping to create more than 1,425 jobs in the province.

• In 2019, the government launched the Regional Development Program for Eastern and Southwestern Ontario. Businesses and municipalities can get financial support through the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and Southwestern Ontario Development Fund and guided access to a range of complementary services and supports.
• Last year, the government launched the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream of the Regional Development Program. This new stream helps Ontario advanced manufacturers invest in the equipment, advanced technologies and skilled workforce needed to improve competitiveness and growth, and to create, retain and bring jobs back to every region of the province.
• In 2021, manufacturing accounted for almost 660,000 jobs in Ontario and more than 10 per cent of the province’s Gross Domestic Product.