McKesson Canada confirms $25M centre in Moncton

McKesson Canada is investing $25 million into a distribution business in Moncton that will serve the Maritime region.

McKesson Canada is moving to a new distribution centre in Moncton’s Caledonia Industrial Park, where it will employ 90 people.

The new centre will hire 40 new workers on top of the 50 existing employees the company had at its previous facility.

Nick Loporcaro, the president of McKesson Canada, said the new centre will enable the company to generate more efficiencies for its customers.

“This is an important decision for McKesson Canada as it also provides more flexibility and potential to offer new distribution services to our Maritime customers while taking into account current and future needs,” Loporcaro said in a statement.

The Friday morning announcement is a confirmation of the company’s decision to locate its Maritime distribution centre in Moncton.

The company previously had separate facilities in Moncton and Halifax.

Premier David Alward said attracting companies, such as McKesson, to New Brunswick is a key part of the province’s economic development strategy.

“Working with first-rate companies, like McKesson Canada, is a critical part of Invest NB’s plan to grow the provinces gross domestic product and create a stronger, more sustainable economy,” Alward said in a statement.

Alward said Invest NB, the province’s Crown corporation that is responsible for economic development, will work with the company to “ensure all future economic opportunities are realized to their full potential.”

The new jobs will add more than $2.2 million in new gross domestic product for the provincial government in the current fiscal year.

Alward foreshadowed the McKesson Canada announcement in Thursday's State of the Province speech in Fredericton. The premier was discussing the need to attract more businesses to the province.

"The time has come for us as a province to be far more proactive in bringing job creators to New Brunswick," he said on Thuresday.

McKesson Canada, which distributes pharmaceuticals and products to health-care providers, has distribution centres around the country.

The company says its distribution centres supply 40 per cent of the medicines used in Canada to 6,300 retail pharmacies and 1,350 hospitals, clinics and institutions.