Coronavirus

As of June 30, 2020

What we are going through during this pandemic will forever mark History, as well our own history, the history of TC Transcontinental and that of all our employees. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, our focus has been to contribute responsibly to the global effort to halt the pandemic and protect the health of our employees and their families.

Today, we are very proud of the role we have played since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in ensuring the pursuit of our operations to support essential services to the population, in particular food packaging, and printing services for newspapers and retailers. We would also like to thank our colleagues who were unfortunately temporarily laid off in the Printing Sector for their patience and understanding, and we are glad that many of them are already back to work.

Here’s an update on our activities and the main safety measures we have deployed within our facilities. 

PACKAGING
The vast majority of our operations supports the vital food industry and ensures food security for people. Now more than ever, the benefits of plastic packaging make sense. Our flexible packaging protects the product it holds and extends shelf life in store and at home. We play a crucial role in the supply chain of our customers, always meeting the highest standards of quality and manufacturing. The products created by our teams in Latin America support farmers in maintaining their plantations and harvests. All of our packaging activities continue to operate in a safe and secure environment.  

Click here to read about TC Transcontinental Packaging's last update.

PRINTING
The measures announced by the Governments of Ontario and Québec to close non-essential businesses and services on March 24 resulted in a temporary reduction in printing activities, and important temporary layoffs. Our in-store marketing products printing team created innovative pandemic-related products, such as signage for physical distancing and plexiglass panels for several large Canadian retailers to protect their customers and employees. We also continued to print newspapers, books and magazines to keep the public informed and educated. The same goes for the printing and distribution of flyers that help households better manage their personal finances, break isolation, and facilitate people's decision-making in their online purchases and in planning their movements to and from retailers. As the Canadian economy reopens, our operations are gradually recovering. We remain optimistic regarding the recovery of our activities in the mid and long-term.

EDUCATION
Our people at TC Media Books supported distance teaching and learning initiatives for all levels of education. Until the end of the current school year or session, all elementary, secondary, college and university teaching resources were offered free of charge on the i+Interactive and i+Interactive elementary platforms. Many new online tools have also been developed over the past few months. We invite professionals from the health and education sectors to contact us for more information. We also continued to print and distribute educational books to facilitate student learning and prepare for September 2020 back-to-school.

SECURITY MEASURES
We have put in place responsible behaviours in order to offer a safe and secure environment within our facilities. Here are some examples:

• Maintaining physical distance; 
• The addition of equipment and furniture to encourage physical distance; 
• Maintaining a clean work environment;
• Temperature controls for employees in plants; 
• Limited access to our facilities;
• Imposing quarantines; 
• Mandatory telework for all employees who can work from home; 
• Mandatory hand washing many times a day; 
• Minimizing movements; 
• Important restrictions on business travels.

Early on, we activated our crisis unit and deployed our company-wide crisis management and communication plan. We continue to review the situation closely, follow government guidelines in the countries where we operate and undertake new preventive actions as needed. In this context, we are united, prudent and responsible. 

For more information, do not hesitate to write to us.