According to Nova Scotia's agriculture minister, Brooke Taylor, Atlantic Beef Products may still have a chance of survival. The 90 employees and approximately 1,200 affected by the prospective closure may find reassurance from Mr Taylor’s, who is “cautiously optimistic'' about the plant, which had looked set to close. It is the only federally inspected beef processing facility in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

However, he added that no formal agreement had been reached at this time.

The Prince Edward Island government gave the plant a loan of $1.5 million earlier this year, but has refused to increase this unless the governments in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick – the two other regions affected by the closure – add their financial backing.