Chicken Licensing Regulations Amendments

Summary#

These are final changes to the Canadian Chicken Licensing Regulations made by Chicken Farmers of Canada (published as SOR/2024-80). They clarify who needs a licence to market chicken across provinces or for export, shorten some timelines for licensing, and tighten rules for suspending, revoking or refusing licences. The regulations came into force on May 8, 2024 and were published in the Canada Gazette on May 22, 2024.

What it does#

• Removes the definition of “producer-processor” from the regulations.
• States that you must hold a licence to market chicken in interprovincial or export trade if you are a producer, primary processor, processor, dealer, retailer or transporter.
• Requires Chicken Farmers of Canada to issue a licence within 30 days after it receives a completed application and the fee, unless other rules apply.
• Says a licence holder who sells, transfers or stops their business before the licence expires must return the licence, and Chicken Farmers of Canada must revoke it.
• Sets specific reasons a licence must be suspended, including failing to meet licence conditions, not being in good standing with the Commodity Board or the Board, failing to pay levies under the Canadian Chicken Marketing Levies Order, or not meeting quota rules under the Canadian Chicken Marketing Quota Regulations.
• Gives licence holders 90 days to fix problems after written notice before a suspension takes effect.
• Allows revocation if one of those problems happens and the licence was suspended twice in the previous 24 months.
• Allows refusal to issue or renew a licence if an applicant had a licence revoked in the past 24 months, or if an associate is not in compliance.
• Adds an exception so a licence won’t be suspended, revoked or refused if the failure to comply was caused by a reasonably unforeseeable event beyond the licence holder’s control.

Who's affected#

• People and businesses that market chicken across provincial borders or for export, especially: producers, primary processors, processors, dealers, retailers, and transporters.
• Chicken Farmers of Canada, which issues and enforces licences.
• Provincial commodity boards or the national Commodity Board that communicate about good-standing status.
• It’s unclear from the text whether any other groups are affected beyond those listed.

Why it matters#

• Faster licence decisions: applicants should get a licence within 30 days if their application and fee are in order.
• Clearer enforcement: the changes list specific reasons for suspension, revocation and refusal, so businesses know what risks they face if they miss levies, quotas, or licence conditions.
• Business transfers: sellers must return licences when they stop operating, which affects continuity when farms or plants change hands.
• A limited safety valve: licence holders can avoid penalties if they can show a failure was due to an unforeseeable event beyond their control.
• Overall, the changes affect how tightly chicken marketing is regulated across provinces and for export, which matters to operators in the supply chain and can affect supply continuity.