EDMONTON — Molson Canada says it's closing its Edmonton brewery at the end of August, laying off 136 workers.

The company cited an ongoing strike at the brewery, the loss of a Foster's contract to the U-S and a consumer shift from bottles to cans, for the closure.

Molson says it will offer what it calls "fair separation packages'' to the employees losing their jobs.

About 100 millwrights, electricians, machinists and production workers have been on strike at the brewery since late May.

Molson president and C -E-O Kevin Boyce says the labour impasse is a factor in the closing.

Boyce says the fact that the Molson Edmonton brewery is a bottling facility with no expansion capability also figures in the decision.