Labatt provides cans of water to City of Toronto

Labatt Breweries of Canada is again mobilizing its breweries to produce and deliver six truck loads with 223,000 cans of drinking water to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Toronto. PHOTO: Labatt Breweries of Canada

TORONTO — Labatt Breweries of Canada announced on April 26 the company will produce and deliver six truck loads with 223,000 cans of drinking water to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Toronto.

The 223,000 cans of drinking water will be distributed equally between the Toronto Drop-In Network and its Streets to Home Program. The need for canned drinking water is a result of reduced opportunities for those who are street involved or experiencing homelessness to access drinking water.

With the majority of daytime drop-in providers having moved to a takeaway meal service model, there has been a high demand for single-use, portable drinks. Labatt’s new initiative allows service providers to distribute drinks, along with takeaway meals, while maintaining public health guidelines for appropriate physical distancing.

It also helps by eliminating practices that could possibly transmit COVID-19 such as using shared drinking water sources, such as water fountains, or shared or uncleaned re-useable bottles.

“Our 3,500 employees across the country have been doing an exceptional job rising to the occasion so we can give back to our communities,” Charlie Angelakos, Labatt’s vice-president, legal and corporate affairs, said in a prepared statement. “When we heard there was a shortage of drinking water supply at some of the City of Toronto’s critical programs, we mobilized our Disaster Relief Program as quickly as we could.”

Related: Q&A: Charlie Angelakos, Labatt Breweries of Canada