Canada invests $567M in African swine fever prevention, preparedness

The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the resilience of Canada's rural communities and the Canadian pork sector by supporting prevention efforts and preparing to respond in the event of an African swine fever outbreak. Last week Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay announced a commitment of up to $567.16 million to support hog producers should there be a closure of key export markets for Canadian pork products and live pigs due to an ASF outbreak in Canada or the United States.

While Canada remains free of ASF, a single detection of ASF in Canada would close export markets due to international trade regulations and import restrictions imposed by trading partners. Canada is heavily dependent on pork and live pig exports, and the closure of key export markets would be devastating to the pork sector. It would cause hog producers to incur extraordinary costs and force them to make difficult decisions about depopulating their herds.

"Thanks to the hard work of our pork producers, Canada is able to provide top-quality pork to Canadians and folks around the world, with exports shipped to nearly 80 countries. With this funding commitment, we’re making sure we support hog producers in the event of an outbreak, while we work to contain the virus quickly and regain access to our key export markets," said MacAulay.