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Carmen Fortino: Montreal-Based Company

carmen fortino: The company said the move to modernize and automate its network will mean the loss of about 180 full-time and 100 part-time positions, according to Toronto Star. In our industry we're always looking at ways to become more efficient to lower pricing, but we have been talking about this for three years since I joined the company and well before anybody said anything about minimum wage, Carmen Fortino, division head at Metro Ontario, said. The Montreal-based company said it will eliminate about 280 jobs starting in 2021 as part of a 400-million overhaul of its Ontario distribution network. Read more Metro grocery chain looking at automation to offset higher Ontario minimum wage Article Continued Below The announcement follows comments by Metro in August that it would study automation as it looked to cut costs in the face of the Ontario government's plan to raise the minimum wage next year. It said the existing Ontario distribution network dates back to the 1960s and no longer meets the needs of its business. react-empty 155 We see a lot of opportunities in the province and we wanted to make sure that we were going to be in a position to be able to grow but support our stores in a cost-efficient manner and add some flexibility to the way that we service our stores, Fortino said. Metro has six distribution centres in Ontario including four in Toronto and two in Ottawa that employ a total of more than 1,500 workers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.