The temporary closure of the XL Foods beef plant at Brooks, Alberta could potentially have a major impact on the Canadian cattle industry.

On Friday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency temporarily suspended the plant's operating license due to findings of E. coli  O157:H7.

The plant processes about 35 percent of the cattle slaughtered in Canada.

"It's a very significant event, and it has has considerable ramifications for the industry, depending how long it takes for it to get up and running again," explains Dennis Laycraft, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.

He says there's a chance it could be back in operation by the end of this week.

"It's certainly possible for it to happen that quickly. We hope that's the case. The shorter the duration, clearly the less impact it will have on the cattle industry," he says.

Laycraft says the next step will be to have the U.S. government remove its ban on products from the plant.

"Once it has met the conditions in Canada, which are almost identical to those in the U.S., we would hope that it gets re-listed fairly quickly," he says. "We hope the implications are just short-term."