Overview

The Ontario Hatchery and Supply Flock Policy (OHSFP) can be traced back to 1928, when blood testing was first carried out to identify pullorum and fowl typhoid reactor birds in breeder flocks. There were 193 flocks registered in 1928.

By the 1980s, Ontario was declared a "pullorum-typhoid free zone" and pullorum disease and fowl typhoid were placed on the reportable diseases list under the Health of Animals Act (Canada). The last positive pullorum isolation in Ontario was in 1971.

The OHSFP is developed jointly by industry, provincial and federal governments to determine flock status for breeding and layer poultry flocks and hatchery products by establishing standards for monitoring and testing for Salmonella pullorum, typhoid, enteritidis as per the Health of Animals Act. The OHSFP also contains optional standards for Mycoplasma synoviae, gallinarum and meleagridis for hatcheries requesting to demonstrate a clean status for these pathogens.

Licensing and registration

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency licenses hatcheries that receive eggs produced by a supply flock, incubate eggs to produce commercial poultry and have a minimum setting capacity of 1000 eggs per day. Licenced hatcheries must adhere to the Canadian Hatchery and Supply Flock Testing Standards.

Additionally, Ontario hatcheries are licensed to operate by the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg & Chick Commission. All facilities are inspected against the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens and Turkeys.

The OHSFP is facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness and testing is performed by the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph. It is a voluntary program and is updated periodically to reflect new scientific evidence related to testing technology or processes.

The process of registration with OHSFP takes place every year. An enrolment form is sent out to the hatchery producer and must be completed and submitted to the OHSFP coordinator (AHL-designated) by the end of January.

If an OHSFP registrant wishes to be certified for export purposes, a summary report is presented to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness’ (OMAFA) Office of the Chief Veterinarian for Ontario to confirm that test frequency and numbers align with the importer’s requirements and with their OHSFP application. The OHSFP coordinator will provide a supporting letter to certify that the applicant is registered with the OHSFP and has met the requirements within this program.

Where there are special requirements for certifying the absence of specific disease agents, or where the importing jurisdiction requires additional or different procedures, the AHL may assist an OHSFP registrant to meet such requirements.

To obtain a copy of the program, please email ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca.