MONTRÉAL—Transcontinental has announced it is closing its 1485 Coulomb, Boucherville, Québec, printing plant as of December 17 this year. The date was chosen to coincide with the completion of two contracts with the company.

Some 180 employees will be affected in the closure, which comes as a result of the company “investing heavily in new printing technologies that have made it significantly more efficient and augmented its production capacity,” according to a company press release. Also contributing to the closure is the decreased demand in niche book, catalogue and magazine markets which mean the company is faced with an overcapacity in those segments of its printing network, says Transcontinental vice president, corporate communications Sylvain Morissette.

All employees affected in the closure will receive severance packages and job placement services, says Morissette.  “We will give them help to find jobs in new fields,” he says. “It is difficult to offer them new jobs or other jobs in our network considering the market is so fragile.”

The closure of this location takes the number of Transcontinental’s book, catalogue and magazine printing plants to seven.