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The Codes of Practice in Canada are maintained and updated through the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC). The Code Development Committee held its first meeting on March 25th and 26th in Ottawa and was a joint meeting with the Code Scientific Committee. The objective of the meeting was to select the priority welfare issues that will be the focus of the Scientific Committee report. The priority welfare issues selected needed to have sufficient new research available since 2011 to justify a literature review. Seven priority welfare issues were selected:
The Scientific Report on these welfare issues will inform the Code Development Committee on the latest findings in science for their consideration when updating the Code of Practice. This report will supplement the Scientific Report that was published in 2013. Additionally, 9 subcommittees of the Code Development Committee were also established, one for each current section of the Code of Practice. The subcommittees will review their section of the Code and will come to the full Code Development Committee with any recommendations for change. The work of the subcommittees is expected to commence soon. The next in-person meeting of the full Code Development Committee is expected to take place in November 2025 in Ottawa.
Throughout the Code review process, Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) will be consulting with provincial boards and the Board of Directors to help inform our Code representatives about the topics being discussed and the views of Canadian chicken farmers broadly. CFC is represented on the Code Development Committee by Ray Nickel, CFC Director and farmer from BC, and Rick Kaptein, CFC Director and farmer from ON, with support from CFC staff.
The new Code is tentatively planned for completion in the Fall of 2027. The credibility of the Raised by a Canadian Farmer Animal Care Program comes in large part due to it being based on the Code, and CFC will be working in tandem with the Code development process to update the animal care program through NFACC’s Animal Care Assessment Framework. Any changes to the animal care program will be reviewed with provincial boards and communicated to farmers well in advance of implementation.
With the Codes as the strong foundation for our program, CFC can work with retail and restaurant partners to promote the Raised by a Canadian Farmer brand, and the assurances of good on-farm standards that come with it. With more retail and restaurant companies supporting and promoting the brand in their stores and restaurants, the goal is to increase chicken consumption and continue growing our great sector!
