The Canadian Poultry Research Council (CPRC) was established in 2001 to provide leadership in the creation and implementation of programs for poultry research in Canada. Chicken Farmers of Canada, along with the other National Poultry Groups, are founding members of CPRC.

CPRC’s mission focuses on:

• The coordination and enhancement of a more efficient Canadian poultry research effort
• Securing additional and matching funding
• Facilitating the establishment of national poultry research priorities

CPRC led the development of the National Research Priorities for Canada’s Poultry Sector. The priorities in this strategy are what guides the research categories that are provided each year in the call for proposals.

To the end of 2024, CPRC Members committed $6 million to 129 research projects across universities and labs, and a total of $34.8 million was raised from various sources for the research program.

Below is a selection of some recent project summaries from CPRC research.

• Hydroxyl radical treatment for decontaminating of hatchery eggs
• Evaluation of control strategies to reduce emissions of particulate matter, ammonia and greenhouse gases from poultry operations
• Yeast-based feed additives for improving poultry gut health
• Necrotic enteritis vaccine research
• Innate immune stimulants protect against yolk sac infection
• Development of novel and rational vaccine formulations against avian influenza virus infection in chickens
• On-farm trials to validate encapsulated essential oils to control necrotic enteritis in broilers
• Efficacy of new vaccine strategies to protect broiler chickens against necrotic enteritis
• Mitigation of relevant Campylobacter jejuni strains within the broiler production continuum
• Mitigation of intestinal inflammation for poultry and production health
• The ability of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to stimulate gastrointestinal development of broilers pre-hatch
• Improving foot pad quality in commercial broilers: benchmarking and practical strategies
• Risk factors during broiler transportation
• Effect of organic acids-essential oils blend and oat fiber on broiler intestinal health

Poultry Science Clusters

CPRC has been the lead organization coordinating and implementing the Poultry Science Clusters in Canada. Cluster projects bring together teams of scientists from across many disciplines to solve complex problems. The fourth Cluster project is currently underway, supported by the federal government through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Sustainable CAP program, other government agencies, as well as industry funding. Updates on previous and current Cluster projects can be found here.

The fourth Poultry Science Cluster includes 13 projects under three main research priorities:  environment and climate change, economic growth and sector resilience. This Cluster project is a $10.2 million dollar investment in Canadian poultry research consists of up to $5.1 million from AAFC, $2.82 million from CPRC, $1.85 million from industry, and $405,000 from other levels of government.  For it’s part of the CPRC contribution, CFC has invested $1 million over 5 years towards the research projects.