MEAT PROCESSING

The meat processing industry in Canada is divided into 3 main areas:

• Poultry processing

• All other animals that aren’t poultry (including game meats); and

• Rendering meats and other products from carcasses

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE INDUSTRIAL MEAT CUTTER JOB

Meat Processing

We get it, meat processing isn’t the sexiest industry, BUT you might be surprised at what it has to offer! There is the slaughtering/ abattoir and meat cutting side which is what you might traditionally think of when you see “meat processing”, and there’s a whole slew of other products made by the industry which might be your niche.

We want to open your mind to all the career possibilities in this sector because it’s much more than “meats” the eye!

Here's some areas of interest,

presented in the order of processing, these areas might work for you:

Abattoir & Slaughtering:

The first step of meat & poultry processing is the slaughterhouse, the industry usually separates meat vs poultry because they have significantly different processes due to the size of the animal. Abattoirs come in all shapes and sizes, some are small “mom & pop” style operations where they process a small number of animals for local consumption and have a small team of workers. Other organizations are huge and have thousands of workers with everything you could possibly need “in-house”, including vets, animal welfare care, and an entire community of people working. There’s some extremely sophisticated technology used in some plants. This job isn’t for everyone, and employers recognize that, and base their compensation, perks and bonuses accordingly to attract and keep some of the best!

Meat Cutting & Rendering:

Meat Cutting & Rendering Don’t be fooled by the name, meat cutting is a certifiable skilled trade. It takes time to perfect (hone) the art of meat cutting, knowing the anatomy of the animals, using the right tools and perfecting the cuts. As mentioned, this includes poultry processing, cattle & other livestock, and game meats, it just depends on which type of organization you’re working for. There’s also rendering which extracts useable parts of the carcass for other products like animals fats/ oils, bones, tallow, etc.

Further processing:

Meat is processed into soooo many everyday favorites, think chicken wings, sausages, burgers, meatballs, bacon, nuggets, dumplings, duck a l’orange, lamb chops, tapas, spaghetti sauce, pies, lunch meats, jerky…need we say more? If meat cutting isn’t your ballgame, don’t worry, you can be involved in the curing, marinating, cooking, smoking and drying of meats and other forms of further production. All these careers are in the industry but aren’t directly related to slaughter and meat cutting, in fact there’s a good portion of meat products that are sold as an ingredient to other manufacturers to make things like chicken or beef hot dogs.

We’ve summarized all further meat processing in a pretty small section, but we want you to know that there are all types of careers here from labourers to scientists, inspectors, packers, millwrights and machine operators.

This is the biggest food manufacturing subsector in Canada!

COMPANIES YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE

Industrial Meat Cutters:

Industrial Meat Cutters:

Industrial Meat Cutters:

Meat Inspectors:

Meat Inspectors:

Meat Inspectors:

OCCUPATIONS “NOC”KING AT YOUR DOOR:

National Occupational Classification (NOC) Codes are what our jobs and occupations in Canada are specified by!

Knowing our NOC codes is how we are able to determine the various details on skills, proficiencies, and levels of knowledge needed to perform particular occupations or jobs across the various industries and sub-sectors across Canada.

Listed below are some of the NOC codes for the Meat & Poultry Processing subsector: