BORDEN-CARLETON, P.E.I. — Transcontinental is shutting down its Prince Edward Island printing plant and planning a “reorganization” at its Halifax plant throwing 15 people out of work.
Eleven of those layoffs are in P.E.I.
“We conducted an analysis of our printing operations in Atlantic Canada and regretfully concluded that volumes at Transcontinental Prince Edward Island did not justify keeping the plant running,” said Brian Reid, president of TC Transcontinental Printing.
Transcontinental Prince Edward Island lost its biggest contract in the spring of 2018 when the SaltWire Network, the owners of this newspaper, moved printing of The Guardian and the Journal Pioneer to its own Halifax printing plant.
Paul MacNeill, publisher of the Eastern and West Prince Graphics, which are printed at Transcontinental in Borden-Carleton, said it is still too early to say what it will mean for his newspapers. However, he added, there are other printers in the region.
“We will work to find a partner that allows us to move forward with as little disruption to our readers as possible,” MacNeill said.
MacNeill said he's sorry to hear about the closure of the plant and feels for the impacted employees.
“This does not in any way speak to the strength of the newspaper industry on P.E.I., but is reflective of corporate decisions made by TC and Torstar with the closure of the Halifax Star paper this week.”
The P.E.I. plant is expected to close by January 2020.
Reid said employees impacted by the layoffs will be “supported through their career transition.”
“Together with our customers, we will assess alternate printing solutions available to them – either within TC Transcontinental’s network or with another provider. Our goal is to do everything possible to support them in their transition.”
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