Hatchery Exclusion Regulations Repealed

Summary#

The Regulations Repealing the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations: SOR/2024-20 remove the older rules that carved certain buildings out of the legal definition of “hatchery.” The repeal came into force on February 7, 2024 and completes a consolidation started by the modernized regulations for hatcheries published on November 9, 2022.

What it does#

• Repeals the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations, ending that separate set of rules.
• Finalizes the consolidation of hatchery rules into the modernized regulations for hatcheries (Part VIII.1 of the Health of Animals Act regulations).
• Leaves in place the new licensing test in the modernized rules: a hatchery is subject to licensing if it receives eggs from a supply flock, incubates eggs for commercial poultry, and has a minimum setting capacity of 1 000 eggs. If those criteria do not apply, the hatchery is excluded from licensing requirements.
• This repeal was an administrative step after the 12‑month transition period for the modernized rules, which ended on October 19, 2023.

Who's affected#

• Hatchery and supply flock operators across Canada.
• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which enforces licensing and inspections for hatcheries.
• Specifically, the government identified 6 businesses that no longer need CFIA licences after the consolidation:
  • 3 in‑barn hatcheries (small operations receiving 18‑day embryonated eggs),
  • 1 vaccine quality‑control testing facility,
  • 2 vaccine hatcheries (one small, one medium/large) that incubate eggs for pharmaceutical use and do not put products into the human food chain.

Why it matters#

• It simplifies the rules for hatcheries by putting licensing criteria in one place (the modernized regulations) and removing a redundant regulation.
• A small number of businesses (the 6 identified) avoid licensing steps, inspections and related record-keeping, producing an estimated administrative relief of $1,873 in 2012 dollars total (about $312 per impacted business).
• For most people this is a technical change, but for hatchery operators it can mean less paperwork and fewer inspections when their operations clearly fall outside the licensing criteria.