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TORONTO - Maple Leaf Foods (TSX:MFI), one of Canada's largest food processors, says it has asked Claude Lamoureux, former CEO of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, to join Maple Leaf's board after the annual meeting April 24.

Lamoureux will replace Robert Stewart, who has been a director for 13 years ever since the company was acquired in a buyout financed by Teachers. Stewart recently announced plans to retire from the meat and bread company's board.

Lamoureux joined the Ontario Teachers' in 1990 and held the CEO position until his retirement in 2007, helping to grow the fund from $19 billion in Ontario government bond assets to $106 billion worth of diversified investments.

"We are delighted that Mr. Lamoureux has agreed to be nominated to the Maple Leaf Board," said Wallace McCain, chairman of Maple Leaf. "He brings vast knowledge of global markets, corporate governance, value creation strategies and the evolution of Maple Leaf Foods from a commodity-driven business in the mid-90s to a leading Canadian consumer packaged foods company."

Teachers helped the McCain family acquire Maple Leaf in 1995 and remains a minority investor in the Toronto company. The company was formed in 1990 from the merger of meat processor Canada Packers and baker Maple Leaf Mills.

Maple Leaf Foods employs about 23,000 people at operations across Canada and in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia. It generated sales of $5.2 billion last year.