QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
Bovine Tuberculosis
November 5, 2025
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Moreau, there is a major bovine tuberculosis outbreak unfolding in the Prairies. To protect the herd and their neighbours, producers are incurring additional veterinary costs, additional cleaning and disinfection expenses and increased labour costs on top of their regular expenses. There are holes in the financial supports for ranchers who are incurring extraordinary costs in the name of protecting Canada’s herd health and trade status. What is the government doing to fill these holes?
Thank you, Senator Tannas. You raise a very important issue.
I understand that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, is currently investigating three separate herds infected with bovine tuberculosis in the Prairie provinces. The CFIA is testing herds linked to the infected ones to prevent disease spread and to identify the source.
I have been informed that the CFIA may compensate animal owners for animals ordered destroyed; costs related to the disposal of animals ordered destroyed; other things ordered destroyed, such as contaminated feed or animal products; costs related to the following list of things ordered destroyed: animal food, non-commercial freezers and refrigerators, cages, crates, nesting boxes and feedlots, as well as personal labour undertaken in carrying out destruction orders; vaccination costs for animals —
Thank you, senator.
Thanks. This is a good-news, bad-news story, senator. The Prairie landscape is teeming with wildlife — foxes, deer in numbers I’ve never before seen, elk and moose — all of which carry tuberculosis. Much of that credit should go to ranchers and farmers for their conservation practices.
They are not being covered for anything other than the destruction of animals, but most animals aren’t destroyed. They’re given veterinary costs. They’re quarantined in a special way —
Thank you, senator.
I understand this is an important and serious issue for farmers, but after I finished my previous answer, I wanted to underline that their own personal labour undertaken in carrying out destruction orders can be compensated by the agency, as well as vaccination costs for not only destroyed animals but also those that need treatment.
I’m not aware of any government plans to extend compensation beyond that. I can provide you with the list of what should be compensated.
