Do you have what it takes to be a superhero?
In the battle against enemies like bacteria, food pathogens, plant pests, invasive species and animal diseases, who can we turn to for help?
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) brave team of superheroes, of course!
Not all superheroes wear capes. Every day, they stop at nothing to keep our food, plants and animals safe. From inspectors to scientists to technology experts, they all play an important role in protecting Canada's people, environment and economy.
It's a big job, so they're constantly looking for helpers like you. Are you ready to meet the superheroes already on the case and join their mission?
If you accept this challenge, download their trading cards below, exchange with your friends, and collect them all!
Everyday superheroes (2022)
- Printable version of trading cards in colour - PDF (35 MB)
- Printable colouring book in black and white – PDF (38 MB)
Latika Mogla
Job title: Operational Leader
Code name: Food Fraud Finder
Superpower: Making sure your honey is the real thing
Mission: Using teamwork and science to keep out sneaky sugar syrups that don't bee-long
Nemesis: Fake honey
Fun fact: Honey must be 100% made by bees to be legally sold in Canada. If it's not, it might be food fraud!
Dr. Aman Deep
Job title: National Veterinary Specialist
Code name: Doctor Food Defender
Superpower: Detecting, controlling and preventing foodborne illnesses
Mission: To make sure food imported into Canada is safe and to keep food animals like cows, pigs and chickens free from harm and injury
Nemesis: Contaminated food
Fun fact: More than 200 diseases are spread through food worldwide.
Fred Jamieson
Job title: Food Safety Recall Specialist
Code name: Mister Don't Eat That
Superpower: Figuring out which foods are safe to eat and which ones need to be removed from the shelves at your grocery store
Mission: To make sure food recalls are announced at lightning speed
Nemesis: People who don't follow the CFIA on social media or subscribe to recall emails
Fun fact: The CFIA's Office of Food Safety and Recall oversees about 220 recall incidents every year.
Penelope Kirsch
Job title: Food Safety Technical Assessor
Code name: Super Sickness Stopper
Superpower: Identifying food that can make you sick
Mission: To make sure grocery store shelves are stocked with safe food
Nemesis: People who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom
Fun science fact: Our Office of Food Safety and Recall has seen some wacky things in food, like a pencil in a loaf of bread! We're always working to keep families like yours informed about food recalls.
Ndeye Marie Diallo
Job title: National Issues Manager
Code name: Optimistic Connection Octopus
Superpower: Juggling many priorities, with lots of arms!
Mission: To stop the threats to Canada's food, plants and animals
Nemesis: Lack of collaboration in the workplace
Fun fact: Octopuses have 3 hearts, blue blood and…9 brains! The central brain controls the nervous system, and the mini-brains within each of their arms control movement.
Lyna Tardif
Job title: Financial Officer
Code name: Driver of the Costing Mobile
Superpower: Managing money during emergencies and outbreaks
Mission: To ensure funds are counted and documented
Nemesis: Losing count!
Fun fact: Bacteria are everywhere, and they're on everything! Coins and paper bills carry thousands of microorganisms that can survive for weeks.
Jean-Louis Michaud
Job title: Operational Leader
Code name: Food Recall Know-it-All
Superpower: Writing inspection procedures at super speed
Mission: To make sure all food recalls follow procedure, so Canadians get information as fast as possible
Nemesis: People who don't follow directions!
Fun fact: Science always surrounds us, even in small ways. Baking a cake is a lab experiment!
Caroline Simard
Job title: Project Coordinator
Code name: Eccentric Corporate Entrepreneur
Superpower: Experimenting with technology
Mission: To solve inefficient processes with innovative solutions like apps and videos
Nemesis: The status quo
Fun fact: The rate of change today is the slowest you will ever experience. Think about it: things will develop over the next 10 years as much as they did over the last 50 years!
Carol Trottier
Job title: Emergency Procurement and Contracting Officer
Code name: Caped Crisis Crusader
Superpower: Staying calm under pressure
Mission: To equip the CFIA's superhero squad with the tools and equipment they need to work safely during emergencies
Nemesis: Delivery delays
Fun fact: As of April 2022, the CFIA bought over 28 million pieces of protective equipment (like masks, face shields and gloves) to help protect employees during COVID-19.
Bruno Gallant
Job title: Legislative Officer
Code name: Plant Health Operative
Superpower: Stopping harmful insects from crossing the border with the help of my trusted scope
Mission: Develop regulations to keep pests out of Canada
Nemesis: Ice cream stands (which tend to distract from my mission)
Fun fact: Contrary to money, plant pests can grow on trees!
Dr. El Mehdi Haddou
Job title: Veterinarian
Code name: Doctor Mega-Prion Finder
Superpower: Detecting animals with prion (infectious protein) diseases
Mission: To make sure all animals, big and small, are healthy and disease-free
Nemesis: Prions
Fun fact: Prions are the most stubborn infectious agents on the planet. That makes my job super tough!
Melissa Boudrias
Job title: Mental Health and Wellness Advisor
Code name: Wellness Warrior
Superpower: Spreading human connection through social support
Mission: To give everyone the tools they need to feel their best each day
Nemesis: Stigma and micro-aggressions
Fun fact: Research shows being kind can reduce stress, and improve emotional well-being and physical health. Anyone can be a hero!
Dr. Sharon Calvin
Job title: Veterinary Epidemiologist
Code name: Valiant Veterinarian
Superpower: Finding patterns in disease data
Mission: To protect animals from deadly viruses
Nemesis: Thinking that's not based on facts
Fun fact: There are more virus particles on Earth than stars in the universe. Thankfully, many are harmless!
Tricia Klatt
Job title: Resource and Reporting Officer
Code name: Renowned Recruiter
Superpower: Creating staffing solutions to hire new CFIA superheroes
Mission: To find the best and brightest talent
Nemesis: Paperwork
Fun fact: There's enough DNA in the average human body to stretch from the sun to Pluto and back… 17 times!
Jasmine Mander
Job title: Science Analyst
Code name: Fearless Food Protector
Superpower: Searching the world for new information about food safety risks
Mission: To track food safety issues around the world and detect emerging food hazards
Nemesis: Bacteria, viruses and parasites that try to sneak into our food
Fun fact: We use tools that can scan more than 10,000 sources of food-related information from around the world.
Karine Arsenault
Job title: Project Manager
Code name: Indestructible Innovator
Superpower: Using my positive attitude to convince my team that we can achieve the impossible
Mission: To work towards a common goal
Nemesis: Poor communication
Fun fact: If you're claustrophobic, keep green apples handy. Their smell can alter your perception of space, making rooms appear larger than they actually are.
Dr. Joseph Stinziano
Job title: Science Authority
Code name: Plant Analytics Wizard
Superpower: Creating analysis plans in a flash
Mission: To make sure other plant health superheroes have the right information to make good decisions
Nemesis: Typos
Fun fact: If you spend 10-12 minutes planning your day, you'll save up to 2 hours of time that would have otherwise gone to waste. That's why planning is so important!
Lindsay Happyjack
Job title: Co-Chair of the CFIA's National Indigenous Advisory Circle
Code name: Indigenous Illuminator
Superpower: Bringing light to historical truths
Mission: To ensure Indigenous perspectives and needs are considered in the Agency
Nemesis: Systemic racism
Fun fact: Indigenous peoples' knowledge and experience with plants has helped researchers develop new medicines. For example, the active ingredient in Aspirin was discovered by Indigenous peoples from the bark of the willow tree.
Anthony Valles
Job title: Inspector Specialist
Code name: Master Food Tracker
Superpower: Tracing your food's journey, from farm to fork
Mission: To make sure everyone in the food chain follows the rules
Nemesis: Bad bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli
Fun fact: Bacteria are so small that they can only be seen with a microscope. The first microscope was invented way back in 1668!
Shae Wasliw
Job title: Meat Hygiene Inspector
Code name: Beef Whisperer
Superpower: Finding out why and how some diseases harm beef animals
Mission: To inspect Canadians' beef and make sure it's safe
Nemesis: Pathogens in our beef, like E. coli and Salmonella
Fun fact: Did you know that 40% of Canada's cow population is in Alberta?
Angel Huang
Job title: Evaluation Analyst
Code name: Miraculous Evaluator
Superpower: Analyzing programs and policies
Mission: To continuously improve CFIA programs and keep them running smoothly for Canadians
Nemesis: Corrupted files
Fun fact: As powerful as modern computers are, they're still no match for our brains! A computer comparable to the human brain would have the ability to perform over 38 thousand trillion operations per second, and store over 3500 terabytes of memory.
Geneviève Lebrun
Job title: Food Processing Specialist Inspector
Code name: Food Police
Superpower: Knowing when food is clean (and when it's not)
Mission: To be on the case while ensuring food is safe for all Canadians
Nemesis: Freaky finds and strange things in our food
Fun fact: Canada is one of the top 10 importers of food. We bring in most of it from our neighbours in the United States.
Dr. Carmencita Lake
Job title: Veterinarian
Code name: Animal Super Healer
Superpower: Identifying sick animals
Mission: Making sure no sick animals travel and spread disease
Nemesis: Pathogenic microbes that infect people or animals, like viruses, bacteria, mycobacteria and fungi
Fun fact: About 60 percent of all human diseases, and 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases, are zoonotic. That means they jump from animals (like pigs, cows and birds) to people.
Hans Yu
Job title: Executive Director
Code name: Science Data Dazzler
Superpower: Putting ideas into action
Mission: To use science to make important decisions
Nemesis: Disorganization
Fun fact: Less than 0.5% of all data that humans create is ever analyzed and used.
Anas Zaman
Job title: Student
Code name: Super Social Storyteller
Superpower: Transforming thoughts into stories and publishing your voice to the masses
Mission: To make sure all CFIA superheroes everywhere are heard loud and clear
Nemesis: Google Translate
Fun fact: Chances are you wouldn't know about the important work of CFIA superheroes without our help telling their stories!
Noelle Smith
Job title: Programmer
Code name: Predictive Developer
Superpower: Seeing into the future to know what forms need to be created
Mission: To improve the digital environment at CFIA superhero HQ
Nemesis: Paper forms
Fun fact: There are over 700 different programming languages.
Wei Ke
Job title: Applications Analyst
Code name: Adventurous App Analyst
Superpower: Making online applications for Agency's employees and Canadians
Mission: To build user-friendly tools that help other CFIA superheroes fight their nemeses
Nemesis: Application bugs
Fun fact: Our Digital Service Delivery Platform application supports about 2,000 employees and 18,000 Canadians.
Dr. Yves Robinson
Job title: Veterinary Pathologist
Code name: Fantastic Fracture Finder
Superpower: Studying bones
Mission: To ensure animals that cannot walk do not get transported across the country
Nemesis: People who don't know how to safely move injured animals
Fun fact: You can find out the age of a fractured bone by studying the lesions (damaged areas).
Ray Knight
Job title: Ship Inspector
Code name: Insect Investigator
Superpower: Using my special pest vision
Mission: To keep a balanced environment by finding the tiniest invasive bugs and stopping them in their tracks
Nemesis: Tiny insect hitchhikers
Fun fact: A bug that we think is "good" in our own environment could be a supervillain in places where it doesn't belong.
Marion Smith
Job title: Feed Microscopy and Bioanalysis Biologist
Code name: Guardian of the Food Chain
Superpower: Seeing the world with microscopic vision
Mission: To make sure food is safe for animals and humans
Nemesis: Germs that contaminate food
Fun fact: A compound microscope can make tiny objects, like cells or crystals, appear up to 1,000 times bigger than they really are. That's like making an ant look as big as a human!
Dr. Siddika Mithani
Job title: President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Code name: Wise One
Superpower: Using scientific evidence to solve complex issues
Mission: To lead the CFIA in the protection of our food, plants and animals
Nemesis: Disrespect in the workplace
Fun fact: I hold a Ph.D. in Psychopharmacology. Did you know that the world's oldest prescriptions were etched into tablets around 2100 B.C.? Pharmacies and drugstores have been around for a long time!
Dr. Naheda Sahtout
Job title: Science Analyst
Code name: Collaboration Champion
Superpower: Solving scientific problems with the help of an international network of superheroes
Mission: To tackle some of the world's biggest challenges by sharing knowledge and working together
Nemesis: Lone rangers
Fun fact: Two–or many–heads are better than one! Take the Human Genome Project, for example. An international team of researchers joined forces to map and understand all the genes of human beings. All our genes together are known as our "genome."
Sharan Sandhu
Job title: Inspector
Code name: Produce Protector
Superpower: Spotting produce that doesn't meet Canadian requirements
Mission: To make sure you can buy and eat safe, high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables year-round
Nemesis: People who don't wash produce before eating it
Fun fact: Apples are one of the only fruits that float in water. That's because 25% of their volume is air!
Tracy Lawrence
Job title: Virology Technician
Code name: Wholesome Ivy
Superpower: Identifying sick plants and finding the cause
Mission: To protect tissue culture plants from invading bacteria and fungus
Nemesis: Bad light, temperature and humidity conditions
Fun fact: Unlike plants, fungi can't make their own food through photosynthesis. They feed on what surrounds them, like plant roots, leaves, wood and soil nutrients.
Dr. Caitlyn Best
Job title: Veterinary Program Officer and Epidemiologist
Code name: Animal Disease Detective
Superpower: Investigating the "who, what, where, when, how" of animal disease outbreaks
Mission: To find out how animals become ill, and to stop the disease from spreading
Nemesis: Germs that make animals sick, like Avian Influenza (bird flu)
Fun fact: Cows like the taste of old batteries. If you leave an old car battery in a field, a cow could eat it and become sick with lead poisoning.
Super squad (2020)
- Printable version of trading cards in colour – PDF (36 MB)
- Printable colouring book in black and white – PDF (38 MB)
- More activities for #JuniorCFIA scientists
Dr. Aruna Ambagala
"Viral Super Thinker"
Dr. Aruna Ambagala
Lab location: CFIA-National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases (NCFAD), Winnipeg
Superpower: Viral super thinking
Superskills: Detection, control and prevention of viral diseases
Mission: Protecting animals from deadly viruses
Nemesis: Viral pathogens
Fun science fact: Viruses come from the Latin word "Poison" or "Slimy Liquid"
Janice Koziuk
"Influenza Investigator"
Janice Koziuk
Lab location: The Centre of the Laboratory Universe (National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases, Winnipeg)
Superpower: Influenza Investigator
Superskills: Virus Isolation and RNA fingerprinting
Mission: To keep the evil Influenza from invading the world to hopefully prevent the next pandemic
Nemesis: Influenza A virus
Fun science fact: Influenza A Viruses can infect many different animals (birds, pigs, humans, dogs, cats, mink, etc.)
Janessa Emerson
"Seed Sherlock"
Janessa Emerson
Lab location: Seed Science & Technology Section, Saskatoon Laboratory
Superpower: Seed Recognition
Superskills: Able to see minute differences in seeds
Mission: To protect plant health by stopping invasive plants in their tracks
Nemesis: Plant species with similar seeds
Fun science fact: Did you know that Lettuce and Sunflower are both in the Asteraceae family?
Jennifer Neudorf
"Seed Sleuth"
Jennifer Neudorf
Lab location: Seed Science & Technology Section, Saskatoon Laboratory
Superpower: Seed Identity Detective
Superskills: Analyzing mysterious microscopic structures of a seed to discover its identity
Mission: To detect and prevent weed seeds from infesting the Canadian plant production base and threatening our food supply
Nemesis: Sneaky weed seeds that look similar to beneficial species
Fun science fact: Seeds are how plants travel! Did you know that humans can spread invasive species to new areas outside of their natural range by trading seeds, grains and many other agricultural products?
Dr. Kalhari Bandara
"Mammavian Protector"
Dr. Kalhari Bandara
Lab location: Holy Grail of Canadian Laboratories – CFIA-National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases (NCFAD), Winnipeg
Superpower: Infectious Viral Super Smile
Superskills: Big picture veterinary thinking about infectious animal diseases
Mission: Protecting pigs and chickens from deadly viruses
Nemesis: All animal pathogens
Fun science fact: Chickens are closely related to a big dinosaur – the T-Rex! Do you see the resemblance?
Leanne Duncan
Lab location: Seed Science & Technology Section, Saskatoon Laboratory
Superpower: Organization, flexibility and attention to detail
Superskills: Data crunching
Mission: To ensure uniformity in seed testing
Nemesis: Those who gloss over details
Fun science fact: Kudzu (Pueraria montana) is a Canadian Prohibited Noxious Weed that can grow up to 1 foot per day. It's also known as "The Vine that Ate the South"!
Dr. Loren Matheson
"Action Ally"
Dr. Loren Matheson
Lab location: National Capital Region
Superpower: Turning good ideas into action
Superskills: Communicating impactful research creatively
Mission: To make science interesting and accessible for everyone
Nemesis: The phrase "that will never work" because where there's a will, there's a way
Fun science fact: While Earth is covered with 80,000+ species of edible plants, did you know that 90 percent of the food we eat comes from just 30 of them? Can you guess which ones?
Dr. Pierre Bilodeau
"Brainstormer"
Dr. Pierre Bilodeau
Lab location: "Skyline"
Superpower: Brainstorming
Superskills: Generating storms of ideas to promote innovative thinking, find solutions and challenge the status quo
Mission: To empower others to engage in conversations, share their knowledge and perspectives, and question assumptions
Nemesis: Closed-ended questions
Fun science fact: On average, children ask close to 300 questions a day!
Dr. Yohannes Berhane
"Molecular Master"
Dr. Yohannes Berhane
Lab location: CFIA-National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases (NCFAD), Winnipeg
Superpower: Bird's eye vision for virology
Superskills: Viral disease diagnosis by molecular and serology techniques
Mission: Protecting chickens and other birds from deadly foreign viral diseases
Nemesis: Avian viral pathogens
Fun science fact: Wild water birds naturally carry Avian Influenza viruses and don't usually get sick from them. However, they can pass them on to other birds (like chickens) and make them sick!
Dynamic Duo: Lindsey Lamboo and Orlando Perez
"Sequencing Squad"
Dynamic Duo: Lindsey Lamboo and Orlando Perez
Lab location: CFIA-National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases (NCFAD), Winnipeg
Superpower: Viral eradicators
Superskills: Sequencing and virus isolation
Mission: Preventing animal viruses from taking over the world
Nemesis: Emerging viral pathogens
Fun science fact: Some scientists believe that humans might be descended from viruses, thanks to a virus living within a bacterial cell approximately one billion years ago!
Team Mammavians
"Mammalian-Avian Ailment Prevention Force"
Team Mammavians
Lab location: CFIA-National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases (NCFAD), Winnipeg
Superpower: Mammalian – Avian ailment prevention force
Superskills : Being a World Animal Organization reference lab for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus and Classical Swine Fever virus
Mission: To protect Canadian animals and birds from dangerous foreign viral infectious diseases
Nemesis: Mammalian and Avian viruses
Fun science fact: Did you know that viruses are not alive, since they lack any energy and carbon metabolism? They also can't evolve or replicate! Without a living host, they wouldn't survive.
Mighty heroes (2019)
Printable version of trading cards in colour – PDF (6.35 MB)
Allana Loder
Lab location: Dartmouth Microbiology Lab
Superpower: Bacterial Super Sleuth
Superskills: Microbial manipulation via whole genome sequencing
Mission: Stopping bacterial from acquiring evil superpowers
Nemesis: Pathogenic bacterial
Fun science fact: Microbes generate at least half the oxygen we breathe!
Carol Tang
Lab location: National Capital Region
Superpower: Science policy
Superskills: Synthesis
Mission: To be brief
Nemesis: Tight deadlines
Fun Science fact: Humans are composed of stardust – nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas (i.e. the explosion of a star).
Erin Tangorra
Lab location: Ottawa Laboratory, Fallowfield.
Superpower: Biosafety.
Superskills: Encouraging a culture of safety in the lab.
Mission: To ensure that everyone is safe and healthy.
Nemesis: Preventable accidents.
Fun Science fact: In 1846, Ignaz Semmelweis significantly decreased the mortality rate of women in a maternity ward by ordering doctors to wash their hands between performing autopsies and tending to the women. Unfortunately, this practice was not well accepted by the doctors, and the hand washing stopped after only a few months. A few decades later, germ theory was being explored, and the benefits of hand washing became universally accepted.
Gina Benedict
Lean Queen of the Science scene
Lab location: Dartmouth Laboratory in Dartmouth, NS
Superpower: Analytical Chemist with Lean Green Belt certification
Superskills: Super human attention to detail, highly developed organizational senses
Mission: To battle inefficiencies and streamline the delivery of accurate results
Nemesis: CHAOS
Fun Science fact: The only letter not appearing in the periodic table is J
Laura Lalonde
Lab location: Centre for Food-Borne and Animal Parasitology, Saskatoon Laboratory
Superpower: Finding tiny parasites lurking in your fruits and vegetables
Mission: To keep salad safe for you!
Nemesis: Food-borne parasites-Cyclospora, Cryptosporidium, Toxoplasma and Giardia
Fun Science fact: Microscopic behavior-altering parasites can manipulate their hosts to increase their own chances of transmission and survival.
Mireille Marcotte
Lab location: Plant Health Science Directorate
Superpower: Promoting collaboration for early detection of plant pests
Superskills: Leverage opportunities as they arise
Mission: Educate the public on what they can do to limit the spread of plant pests
Nemesis: Plant pests
Fun Science fact: A full moon can increase mosquito activity by 500 percent!
Nishandan Yogasingam
Lab location: Fortress of Solitude aka my cubicle at headquarters.
Superpower: Reality manipulation – presenting complex data in an easy way.
Superskills: Ability to think about complex info and turn it into something that can be easily understood.
Mission: To create a world that encourages discovery and promotes participation in the sciences.
Nemesis: When people use the Comic Sans font.
Fun Science fact: The centre of the Milky Way galaxy contains the same chemical that gives raspberries and rum their distinct taste and smell. The Milky Way is one ginormous cocktail.
Vaughn Arthur
Lab location: Dartmouth Laboratory.
Superpower: The ability to create a high-temperature plasma (the fourth state of matter).
Superskills: Decoding the chemical makeup of food.
Mission: To protect Canada from toxic supervillains like mercury, arsenic and lead.
Nemesis: CONTAMINATION!
Fun Science fact: Using microwaves to heat food was discovered by accident when an engineer named Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar had melted in his pocket while he was working on a radar-related project.
Matt Cowie
"SuperNumberMan" aka Resource Analyst
Lab location: Headquarters.
Superpower: Indigenous omnipotence.
Superskills: Superhuman number crunching ability.
Mission: To balance the budget.
Nemesis: Inefficient use of resources.
Fun Science fact: Western scientists rely on Indigenous knowledge when locating and differentiating the stars. Indigenous constellations are used as signposts and the stories help us understand which stars are which, and to remember them.
Guillaume Bilodeau
"Plant pest detective"
Lab location: Ottawa Plant Laboratory, Fallowfield.
Superpower: Finding harmful plant insects, fungi, diseases and other pathogens.
Superskills: Developing quick detection tools using genomics and DNA.
Mission: To discover invasive organisms and regulated plant pests before they cause major damage.
Nemesis: Plant-harming-fungi.
Fun Science fact: We still think that the blue whale is the biggest organism, ever to have lived, beating even the biggest dinosaurs. But it turns out that there is a fungus that is bigger! Armillaria gallica is the largest organism on Earth in terms of weight and area, growing to more than 150 000 square metres. That's way bigger than any whale.
Learn more
Get more Inspect and Protect
- Want to learn more about what we do? Explore articles, videos and podcasts.
- Interested in reporting on a story? Contact CFIA Media Relations to arrange an interview with one of our experts.
- Have an idea or feedback to share? Get in touch!
- Never miss a story. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
- Date modified: