The Government of Canada is providing $20 million to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to support food inspection.
The investment will allow the CFIA to hire, train and equip additional staff (including recently retired CFIA inspectors and veterinarians) to conduct inspection activities, reassign staff from within the Agency to focus on critical services, and work closer with industry and trading partners to minimize supply disruptions during the COVID-19 crisis.
"I thank the whole team at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency who are adjusting rapidly in spite of all the challenges presented by COVID-19," said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. "With these additional resources, and thanks to the valued collaboration between inspectors, business leaders and the provinces, CFIA is ensuring their critical services are available to the food sector."
The funding will also support the CFIA in developing flexible ways to carry out inspections, including through the expanded use of electronic tools such as tablets and access to the CFIA's remote service delivery network.
The funding will also support the training of provincial food inspectors so they can provide assistance to the CFIA as needed. In some provinces, it may entail training CFIA inspectors to support provincial food inspection activities.
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