LONGUEUIL, QC – The Government of Canada is protecting the resilience of Canada’s rural communities and the Canadian pork sector by supporting prevention and preparedness measures for African swine fever (ASF).
ASF is a viral disease that only impacts pigs. While it has not been found in Canada to date, as it spreads around the globe, it poses a significant risk to the health of the Canadian swine herd, the pork industry, and the Canadian economy.
Today, Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced an investment of up to $9,645,586 to fund 29 African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program (ASFIPP) projects in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
This investment will fund ASF research, improved biosecurity measures, wild pig management activities, retrofits of existing abattoirs, regional preparation for the welfare depopulation and disposal of healthy hogs, and sector analysis, engagement and education tools, and will help ensure the sector is prepared should a case be detected.
African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program projects
On May 17, 2024, the Government of Canada announced over $9.6 million in funding for 29 projects under the African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program (ASFIPP). The projects must be completed by March 31, 2025.
The ASFIPP has five priority areas for projects:
- Biosecurity assessment and improvements including wild pig management;
- Sector analysis, communication and engagement;
- African swine fever-related research projects;
- Processor retrofits; and
- Regional preparation for welfare slaughter and disposal of surplus healthy hogs
The 29 projects are:
| Recipient Organization | AAFC Funding | Province | Priority Area | Project focus |
| 2076939 Ontario Inc. O/A Cornerstone Group | $757,893 | Ontario | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to invest in CO2 storage, a mobile CO2 trailer, a portable swine depopulation system, and a commercial wash bay for cleaning and disinfection. |
| Alberta Pork Producer Development Corporation | $1,103,274 | Alberta | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to implement new approaches to:producer education on African swine fever,Biosecurity,eradication of wild boars at large,Biocontainment, andprovide equipment and training for on-farm response for field staff in industry., |
| Aliments Asta | $93,539 | Quebec | Retrofits | This project aims to install a slaughter line to process surplus healthy hogs in the event of an ASF outbreak. |
| Canadian Pork Council | $412,971 | Ontario | ASF Research | This project aims to develop an ASFMeter: a portable, low-cost tool for rapidly diagnosing African swine fever virus in the field. |
| Éleveurs de porcs du Québec | $167,431 | Quebec | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to improve the Quebec pork industry’s preparedness for the introduction of ASF through:1. Detecting and raising awareness about ASF and biosecurity among small-scale pig and wild boar farmers and owners of pet pigs.2. Transition of the Quebec hog manifest from paper format to an electronic tool. |
| Éleveurs de porcs du Québec | $37,447 | Quebec | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to adapt, develop and implement a legal framework for crisis management for the Quebec pork industry. It will focus on amendments to the marketing agreement and production restriction guidelines. |
| Équipe québécoise de santé porcine (EQSP) | $658,546 | Quebec | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to prepare producers for the closure of export markets by providing logistical, financial and operational planning with tools and technologies for mass depopulation of surplus healthy hogs. |
| HyLife Foods LP | $533,131 | Manitoba | Retrofits | This project aims to retrofit HyLife Foods’ processing plant to be ready to move depopulated surplus hogs destined for disposal out of the processing plant, while maintaining normal production. |
| HyLife Ltd. | $873,534 | Manitoba | Retrofits | This project aims to design and build a portable depopulation system and acquire trailers for hauling and removing disposed animals. |
| Manitoba Pork Council O/A Manitoba Pork | $418,000 | Manitoba | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | The objective of this project is to utilize the expertise and experience of the swine industry within Canada to conceptualize, assemble, and test a low-cost rapid deployment depopulation unit for adult swine that can be used on-farm for full-barn depopulations or at a centralized site. |
| Manitoba Pork Council O/A Manitoba Pork | $285,340 | Manitoba | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to assess the feasibility of 60 hog farms across Manitoba to identify suitable carcass disposal locations. |
| Maple Leaf Foods Inc. | $118,575 | Alberta | Retrofits | This project aims to develop engineering plans to be able to retrofit for mass depopulation of surplus healthy hogs and then move directly to a truck for disposal. |
| Maple Leaf Foods Inc. | $361,000 | Manitoba | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to fabricate and assemble the components to build a fully mobile system needed to complete on-site mass depopulation of surplus healthy hogs. |
| Maple Leaf Foods Inc. | $204,000 | Manitoba | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | The project aims to complete the pre-engineering/detailed design for the Brandon site to support mass processing of surplus healthy hogs. |
| Olymel LP | $641,623 | Alberta | Retrofits | This project aims to modify the Red Deer processing plant to be ready to humanely process surplus healthy hogs destined for the landfill. |
| Ontario Pork Industry Council | $156,090 | Ontario | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to develop biosecurity recommendations and design concepts to reduce disease transmission risks associated with assembly yards. |
| Ontario Pork Industry Council | $144,687 | Ontario | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to train and prepare key players in the pork industry to help with welfare slaughter and herd depopulation in the event of an ASF outbreak. An already developed training course (knowledge and hands-on training) will be delivered. The project will also create and acquire training aids for use after the project ends. |
| Ontario Pork Producers’ Marketing Board | $367,912 | Ontario | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to create farm-specific planning for humane depopulation and disposal of healthy surplus animals for all Ontario commercial swine farms; and survey available on-farm resources. |
| Ontario Pork Producers’ Marketing Board | $88,000 | Ontario | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to evaluate the existing Ontario Swine Incident Command Centre program structure and identify and address gaps. |
| Ontario Pork Producers’ Marketing Board | $175,973 | Ontario | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to operationalize and facilitate the prompt deployment of two newly built Emergency Mobile Depopulation trailers in response to an ASF or other foreign animal disease event. |
| PEI Hog Commodity Marketing Board | $959,530 | Prince Edward Island | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to develop a new animal depopulation technology that considers the welfare of both the operator and the animal. The technology applies to multiple species and is planned to be fully scalable from single animal to large commercial size. |
| PEI Hog Commodity Marketing Board | $26,040 | Prince Edward Island | Sector Analysis, Communication, Engagement | This project aims to prepare Animal Health Emergency Handbooks and ensure producers complete them to have a good working knowledge of available resources. |
| Pork Producers Association of Nova Scotia | $13,090 | Nova Scotia | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to train individuals on the proper use of equipment already owned by Pork Nova Scotia, in an effort to prepare for potential disease outbreaks. |
| Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture | $68,523 | Saskatchewan | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to assess the geological suitability of two locations to be used, in the event of an ASF outbreak and market closures leading to the need for the large-scale disposal of surplus healthy hogs. |
| Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture | $17,148 | Saskatchewan | Regional Preparation for Welfare Slaughter / Disposal | This project aims to develop an operational plan for a large-scale central disposal site for surplus healthy hogs in case of an ASF outbreak and market closures. |
| Saskatchewan Pork Development Board | $460,949 | Saskatchewan | Biosecurity / Wild Pigs | This project aims to:1) Determine locations of feral swine populations through surveillance2) Increase the capacity of ongoing population control3) Develop and implement an educational campaign to inform the public, producers and industry about the risks of feral swine. |
| University of Guelph | $118,415 | Ontario | ASF Research | This project aims to develop a model to estimate the production impact of a disruption to swine production and marketing with an interactive user interface. |
| University of Saskatchewan | $94,435 | Saskatchewan | ASF Research | This project aims to develop a rapid peptide-based diagnostic assay to allow for surveillance and detection of ASF. |
| University of Saskatchewan | $258,490 | Saskatchewan | ASF Research | This project aims to identify African swine fever virus antigens. |
