CFIA area contacts for non-resident importers and exporters

Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) Non-Resident Importers (NRIs) whose fixed place of business is located in a country other than Canada are allowed to obtain a Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence under limited conditions. Non-Resident Exporters (NRE's) with a place of business in a country other than Canada, are also allowed to obtain a SFC licence for export.

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) require that regulated parties notify the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) immediately when they suspect that they have sold, distributed, exported or imported a product that may pose a risk to consumers. CFIA investigates the food safety notifications received by these regulated parties. In addition, CFIA conducts inspection and surveillance activities, and responds to food safety notifications from the non-resident regulated parties.

The tables below have been developed to establish a link between Non-resident parties and the CFIA areas within Canada based on geographical profiles. These table are developed using the reference listing of continents and countries that are adopted by the CFIA (accessible only on the Government of Canada network - RDIMS 14995667).

These tables are intended to:

  • provide non-resident parties with a place of business outside Canada with appropriate area contact information for reporting food safety issues to the designated CFIA offices:
  • facilitate work planning, and assigning of Preventive Control Inspections (PCI) of non-resident parties with a place of business outside Canada
  • designate CFIA offices responsible for responding to certain inquiries from non-resident parties (for example, labelling inquiries, license eligibility issues)
  • allow the triage of enforcement files requiring follow-up enforcement action under the Standard Regulatory Response Process (SRRP) to the appropriately responsible CFIA area.

These tables are NOT intended to be used in determining the CFIA office where export certificate requests are submitted.

Note: The CFIA notification and recall contact list is reserved for reporting food safety issues only. For general inquiries, non-resident importers and exporters must visit the Ask CFIA page to choose an appropriate contact option or submit their inquiry through the online contact form.

Table 1. CFIA areas designated as contact for Non-resident importers and exporters located in the United States.
CFIA Operational Area Atlantic West - Alberta West-British Columbia West - Manitoba Ontario Quebec West-Saskatchewan
Alabama X
Alaska X
Arizona X
Arkansas X
California X
Colorado X
Connecticut X
Delaware X
Florida X
Georgia X
Hawaii X
Idaho X
Illinois X
Indiana X
Iowa X
Kansas X
Kentucky X
Louisiana X
Maine X
Maryland X
Massachusetts X
Michigan X
Minnesota X
Mississippi X
Missouri X
Montana X
Nebraska X
Nevada X
New Hampshire X
New Jersey X
New Mexico X
New York X
North Carolina X
North Dakota X
Ohio X
Oklahoma X
Oregon X
Pennsylvania X
Rhode Island X
South Carolina X
South Dakota X
Tennessee X
Texas X
Utah X
Vermont X
Virginia X
Washington X
Washington DC X
West Virginia X
Wisconsin X
Wyoming X
Table 2. CFIA areas designated as contact for Non-resident importers and exporters located in countries other than the United States.
Continent Countries Designated CFIA Area contact
Asia &
Portion of Europe		 All countries within Asia
Austria Table Note m, Italy Table Note m, United Kingdom (UK) Table Note m, Table Note s, Denmark Table Note m, Poland Table Note m, France Table Note m, Table Note s, St. Pierre et Miquelon (SPM) Table Note s, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Saint Martin, Ukraine		 Atlantic
Portion of Europe  Belgium Table Note m, Croatia Table Note m, Czech Republic Table Note m, Finland Table Note m, Germany Table Note m, Hungary Table Note m, Iceland Table Note m, Ireland Table Note m, Table Note s , Netherlands Table Note m, Table Note s, Portugal Table Note m, Romania Table Note m, Slovenia Table Note m, Spain Table Note m, Sweden Table Note m, Switzerland Table Note m, Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Norway , Serbia, Slovenia Quebec
Oceania, Africa All countries in Oceania and Africa Ontario
America: South and Central America,
North America Greenland

All countries in South and Central America

Mexico
Greenland

 West
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