Traceability Amendments

Concerned about the Part XV (Traceability) of the Health of Animals Regulations?

This winter, Alberta Pork has heard from some producers concerned about the proposed amendments to the Part XV (Traceability) of the Health of Animals Regulations which govern traceability nationally and are met by reporting to PigTRACE. All Alberta producers reporting to the Alberta Swine Traceability System are participating in PigTRACE. The Alberta Swine Traceability System uploads your movement data to PigTRACE, ensuring national traceability is intact and all Alberta producers are compliant with Part XV (Traceability) of the Health of Animals Regulations.

The Alberta pork industry has been working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) nationally through the Canadian Pork Council’s PigTRACE program on the proposed amendments for the last decade. More recently in 2023 the proposed amendments were released for public comment and industry consultation in Part I of the Canada Gazette. Industry reviewed the proposed amendments and circulated a position piece to producers along with instructions for producers to provide comments in May of 2023.

Overall, industry provided feedback to the CFIA through consultations between the CFIA and the Canadian Pork Council’s PigTRACE program, as well as directly from producers and all Provincial Pork Organizations across Canada. Follow up discussions with the CFIA and Canadian Pork Council’s PigTRACE program has provided early indicators that our feedback was well received, with industry’s rationale also being well understood. The pork Industry is optimistic that the expected changes will be of benefit to producers and the industry.

Alberta Pork and the Canadian Pork Council are eagerly awaiting the next publication of the amendments to the Part XV (Traceability) of the Health of Animals Regulations. However, as of January 2026, due to concerns raised in some public discussions around the amendments, the CFIA has announced it will “pause any publication of the regulations until the proposed changes are more widely understood”. If amendments, when published, do require some changes from industry, Alberta Pork and Canadian Pork Council’s PigTRACE program will clearly communicate any changes to producers and will work with producers through the transition period.

As an industry that exports over 70% of our production, having well defined and acceptable traceability, quality assurance, and biosecurity systems helps to build trust and confidence for trade access and zoning agreements with our trading partners. In addition, traceability improves our ability to prevent and mitigate potential disease concerns.