Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during his daily news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, on Monday, May 4, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising a $252 million aid package for Canada's agriculture and food industries in the COVID-19 pandemic.
He says $77 million of that will go to measures to keep workers in food processing safe with protective equipment and by supporting physical distancing in workplaces.
Meat-packing plants, in particular, have seen large outbreaks of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The package includes money for beef and pork producers holding animals they can't sell, a credit program for the dairy industry and a $50 million fund to buy food that spoils and send it to groups such as food banks.