millwright

journalier de production

industrial mechanic

operator

industrial electrician

Lactalis Canada Inc

I have pretty much done every single job in the shipping department and can honestly say I would not recommend working at the Montreal plant.  The company has lost so many unionized employees, supervisors, managers, and directors that it has resorted to just hiring anybody who knows anybody.  The place has turned into a circus where employees are just having fun all day and supervisors have no idea what’s going on.  The older supervisors are just showing the new supervisors the bare minimum and it will take years for these new supervisors to learn everything they need to know.  A big change at this plant in recent years is that a supply chain team was brought in to operate the shipping department.  Before this team was brought here, the older management team were all friends who were brought in by recommendations from their friends.  This led to them having full control of plant and being able to hire all their family and friends at will, and these family and friends could get away with goofing off all day and collect salaries for doing nothing.  The new supply chain team ruined their plans since now there was a watchdog hanging over their heads and suddenly some of their untouchable family members began to get fired.  Now the plant has turned into a crazy house with so many crazy things going on since the older management team wants this whole new supply team out, they are encouraging pressure tactics at every level so that the new supply chain team looks bad.  This has led to why I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.  This place is completely divided and everyone is so full of hate that it is impossible for people to work together and get along.  The plant has so many people doing absolutely nothing and causing problems all the time, while many work their butts off to keep the place standing and keep their jobs. The place is continuing to hire friends of the disgruntled old crew and it will take years to bring in a new crew to learn what’s going on and bring harmony to this place.  I’ve seen many new recruits try, but they quit and left because you can’t fix crazy.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from working here. Many of the people I worked with are still there and appear to be quite happy with their jobs.

It pays well, has good benefits, and as it is food manufacturing, is always extremely clean and sanitary. So much so that when I was there, we were far more concerned with our own internal inspections than we were about the ones from the government.

Two things I hated when I was there were the monotony of the job and the politics. The politics probably aren't an issue anymore anyway.

It is a factory type of job. If you like that, you'll likely love this place. For me, it simply stopped being a challenge.

Far worse than that were the politics. At the time our plant was owned by Beatrice. We were bought by Parmalat, everyone was thrilled. Then Parmalat bought Astro and decided our plant no longer made sense, only due to the location. The Astro plant was a disaster in terms of waste, efficiency and quality control, but it was decided that we needed to pick up their slack to make it easier for them to close our plant!

After that, the Astro people seemed to dictate to us the most ridiculous things, like forcing us to use their outdated method instead of ours to make their product (part of the reason they had so much waste) or use our conveyors to make part of the work more convenient. They claimed the slight jarring movement would ruin the product. We asked to do a test run to see if that was the case, they said no. (We did anyway, and it was fine.) I could go on and on.

In the end, they didn't close this plant, but I didn't want to be put in a similar situation in the future. I took a buyout and used the opportunity to open my own business which I had for nearly 15 years.

If I could rate this company below zero, I would. This has been the most unprofessional and toxic workplace I’ve ever experienced. Expect extreme micromanagement- every move is tracked, questioned, and picked apart. The managers are some of the most incompetent people I’ve ever encountered. Instead of support, guidance, or encouragement, you’ll get constant criticism and negativity. There is no trust, no appreciation, and no respect. Management thrives on control instead of leadership. The stress is relentless and the workload is unreasonable- you’ll be expected to handle the job of multiple people with little to no support and still be told it’s not enough. There is no work life balance and weekends are spent planning for the next week. Suggestions are requested but never acted upon, and if you disagree with their methods, you’re quickly dismissed or asked no to voice your opinion. This company is a trap and  does not care about their employees' well-being, growth, or basic dignity. If you value your career growth and mental health, avoid this employer at all costs.

I worked in shipping at the Montreal dairy plant and I can honestly say it was the worst job that I've ever had.  I remember the first day I started there, the employee that was training me asked me if I liked to get high.  When I told him no, he left and 10 minutes later the supervisor came and assigned me to another less paying job.  I got the feeling right there and then that supervisors only listen to certain individuals there.  Other employees told me that is how it works there, that supervisors have their favorites and only listen to them and those favorites get all the perks while the rest get all the work.  I witnessed day in and day out that there was something wrong with why are the supervisors listening to these guys that are not helping moving the company forward.  Other employees told me it was because all these individuals were related to the supervisors and it was one happy family there.  I didn't stick around long enough to find out, i got out of there as soon as i got another job offer.

Depending on where you are in the Corporate structure it can be a great place to work.  Current salary purge going on, but company has been very good to myself and my family.  

Typical day was steady performing support and system updates.  Providing training and expertise.

Company used to train users, but that is now a thing of the past, and even free training can be hard to get approval for.  

again, workplace culture , IT was tough with a task master running the department, with little to no money available for any.

Hardest part of the position was dealing with upper management, but overall "quality" managers were well respected and proved their worth.  The atmosphere tended to gravitate to poisonous, but thankfully the people that actually work there will make it a great place to work.  Promotion is few and far between, but salary rewards were pretty good, but those that shone, were never recognised nor rewarded.

Thanks to the fellow coworkers thisjob was wonderful and made it worth the daily trek to the office.

Honestly it’s overall a good place to work. The work is easy and the management is relaxed. 

The main issue with the place is the scheduling. If don’t have at least 5 years seniority, you won’t be getting a job with a good schedule. My schedule only comes out on Wednesday for the next week. But it’s subject to change all the way until Friday. So some weeks I don’t know what I’m doing Sunday on Friday. It makes it really hard to plan other life events. But it’s not too hard to ask them for accommodations such as coming in an hour late or leaving early to go to an appointment or something.

Another thing about the hours is that it’s shift work. You will work any hour of any day. And work multiple different shifts in a week. Lots of day to night to day in one week. It’s hard to sleep enough sometimes.

But all that said it’s overall good. Really good money for what we do, good benefits and pension. Chill management and easy work. You can honestly come in and some nights there is almost no work to do. So I’m satisfied overall 

A typical day at works consists of filling out major customers orders and or replenishment of stock, rotation of inventory, along with depending on workload, loading/unloading of trailers and or receiving of inventory. I've learned other skills in different areas of the plant including the dry goods receiving area as well as working in the production area of the plant handing and setting up of product, material and ingredients. Management on the other hand has room for improvement its not quite as fair throughout the plant and poorly managed staff leads to unfortunate issues that aren't addressed effectively. Most of the workers are great and daily efforts to accomplish workload is done mostly with ease and teamwork. The hardest part would be the lack of effort with a few employees that lead to low moral throughout the crew. The best part is the security and the feeling of comfort at the fact that its not so rigid as most factory warehouse employers.

Pay is good and there's not much outside of that.  Hours are long and you won't be challenged during your day.  A 12 hour day could consit of checking cheese packages, loading blocks of cheese or simply looking for things to keep busy.  Hours are bad and they'll have you switching from 7PM to 7AM in the same week with a day in between or vice versa.  You start with zero senority and you won't be able to get any positions because of this unless you're lucky and get a night shift.  Morale is bad, lots of complaining about how poorly ran the place is.  Mangers micro manage everything.  Communication on important changes is rarely communicated well.  If HR has important information they'll post a piece of paper about it and word of mouth usually spreads it.  Zero social committee or anything really to help improve morale.  You get paid well and there's a pension.  Everything else you would want from a workplace, advancement, morale, respected opinions, understanding, a good schedule...is non existent because at least you get paid well. 

At Lactalis, survival often hinges less on merit and more on compliance with a toxic culture of blind agreement. Genuine feedback is neither welcomed nor valued and anyone who dares to question decisions or offer constructive dissent is quickly pushed out. There’s no structured feedback mechanism, and employees are not seen as people but treated like disposable numbers. Advancement often goes to those who flatter leadership rather than challenge the status quo. Integrity is quietly punished, while sycophancy is rewarded. Many stay silent to protect their jobs, knowing that voicing discomfort or offering truth means being labelled as “not a fit.” It becomes painfully clear that unless you constantly please the right people, your time is limited. This environment breeds distrust, silences innovation, and corrodes morale. For a company of its scale, the absence of accountability, transparency, and respect for employee voice is both shameful and unsustainable.

This company was great when first hired and I learned a lot. A few years later the company was purchased by a French company and the culture changed. Key recruitment offers like bonus and half day Fridays during the summer were cut back or eliminated. Continuous stream of French managers sent in to boost sales but to no avail. You can expect a lot of reporting above and beyond your normal duties which is then sent overseas. In the last two years almost all senior managers have left and the majority of the long time mid levels managers have left as well. Some positive things about the company include lots of free product, a golf tournament, great Christmas party and free parking. Best part of the job would be working on some great brands and free products. Worst part of the job is excelling in your role however it could still mean zero bonus based on how the company performs nationally. Simply put, bonus not tied how good you are at your role.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Millwright 12 salaries reported	$44.32 per hour
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Industrial mechanic 8 salaries reported	$42.72 per hour
Operator 6 salaries reported	$31.02 per hour
Industrial electrician 12 salaries reported	$43.13 per hour

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