TORONTO — Weston Foods, a division of George Weston Ltd., has announced plans to close its Kingston, Ont., baking plant in the second quarter of 2020. The decision comes just a few months after Weston eliminated one of the two production lines at the plant.

Calling the decision to close the Kingston bread and roll baking plant a difficult one, Weston said production will be relocated to other bakeries in its network. The closing is expected to affect up to 35 employees, Weston Foods said.

“In November 2019, due to a decrease in customer demand, Weston Foods reduced the operation at the Kingston bakery from two lines to one,” Weston Foods said. “Since then, we have fully assessed the impact of that change across the bakery network, resulting in the decision to close the bakery permanently.

“Closing a bakery is one of the toughest decisions we ever face. We deeply regret the personal impact the closure will have on our Kingston employees and are committed to providing extensive support and resources to those affected. These changes equate to a decrease of less than 1% in our total workforce.”

The announcement of the Kingston closing comes just a few weeks after Weston Foods said it would cease operations at its facility in Cobourg, Ont. Approximately 180 jobs are expected to be lost in connection with the Cobourg closing, which is scheduled to take place in the second half of 2020, the company said.

Despite the plant closings, Weston Foods said Ontario “continues to be a very important market in the Weston Foods network.”