From Mill Street to Simcoe Street: Labatt shifts Toronto brewery's production to London

Matthew Trevithick · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The statement whitethorn accidental Mill Street Brewery, but soon the brew wrong volition beryllium London-made.

Labatt is moving the majority of the Mill Street Brewery's production out of Toronto, a two-hour thrust to the company's main London brewery at Simcoe and Richmond streets, the Labatt Breweries of Canada confirmed Thursday.

It's a large alteration for the brand, which has brewed successful Toronto since its founding successful 2002. It comes arsenic a 10-year lease connected Mill Street's North York installation expires with nary plans to renew. 

Substantial increases to concern lease rates are to blame, said Labatt spokesperson Hannah Love successful a statement. Labatt purchased Mill Street in 2015.

The determination impacts 39 workers, who volition beryllium considered for unfastened positions elsewhere successful the company, Love said, adding nary London jobs are impacted. Increased accumulation successful London is acceptable to statesman successful April. 

"The bulk volition beryllium produced successful London, however, we volition proceed to brew successful our brew pub successful Toronto arsenic good arsenic different facilities successful our brewing web successful the GTA," she said.

Asked if immoderate Mill Street offerings would beryllium impacted, she said it would proceed to nutrient astatine the aforesaid volume, including tiny batch beers.

Nearly 40 jobs impacted

"We're bittersweet astir the quality for the families and the folks that person mislaid their jobs," said David Bridger, president of SEIU Local 2, which represents unionized workers astatine the Labatt works and different Canadian breweries. He said rumours of the determination person swirled for weeks.

"We cognize what our folks tin bash successful the London brewery, they nutrient a prime product, truthful we expect the prime volition stay the same. But it's bittersweet news," helium said.

The London brewery is Labatt's largest and oldest. Founded successful 1847 by John Kinder Labatt, it makes astir 40 per cent of the brew the institution sells successful Canada. That includes much than 50 brands owned by its Belgium-based parent, AB InBev, including Budweiser, Busch, Lowenbrau, Michelob Ultra, and Rolling Rock. 

The drinks elephantine has invested millions into the installation successful caller years, including much than $26 cardinal successful 2023 to turn its capacity. The plant is already acquainted with Mill Street Organic, brewing some since 2016 successful enactment of the Toronto plant, said Bridger.

"They'll beryllium capable to instrumentality it on. It volition mean accrued enactment successful the London plant, I don't cognize what that translates into arsenic acold arsenic whether that means jobs ... but it's not an insubstantial magnitude of liquid."

Steve Abrams, 1 of Mill Street's co-founders, said it was a "sad day" proceeding astir the news. Abrams near Mill Street successful 2021 and aboriginal launched Harmon's, a non-alcoholic trade brewery.

"I got benignant of reflective reasoning of 20-plus years ago," he said. "We built that spot by hand."

Mill Street began arsenic a brew pub successful Toronto's Distillery Historic District. It soon outgrew the abstraction and moved to a larger installation successful Scarborough successful 2006, earlier moving again to North York successful 2015.

"I get it from a concern perspective, but each those radical that got laid off, it breaks my heart," Abrams said. "I'm definite they're doing everything they tin to ... support them."

He added that with talented brewers, large brew tin beryllium replicated and made anywhere. "I'm definite we're inactive successful bully hands. I accidental we, I mean the legacy, not me."

It's a pugnacious clip successful Canada's trade brew industry, which has seen breweries adjacent or acquired amid a pugnacious system and changing user preferences, said Jason Foster, an Alberta-based brew expert.

People are drinking little oregon favouring ready-to-drink options, arsenic inflationary pressures are besides pushing consumers toward cheaper beer, and hitting brewer equilibrium books.

The fig of Canadian breweries exploded during a 2010s trade brew boom, jumping from 210 successful 2010 to astir 1,200 successful 2020, Beer Canada says.

As drinkers turned to trade beer, larger breweries spent millions acquiring smaller ones, a inclination Foster says is now in reverse. Both AB InBev and Molson Coors person sold disconnected a twelve trade brew brands successful caller years.

Some large players person entered the ready-to-drink space, Labatt among them. It makes the American Vintage, Mike's, and Palm Bay brands successful London.