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Our laboratories

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has a network of 13 reference and research laboratories across Canada. With a combined expertise in animal and plant health, foreign animal diseases, and food safety, our laboratories provide the expertise and scientific knowledge needed to inform our regulatory and risk-based approach to keeping Canada's plants, animals, and food safe.

4 CFIA laboratories in 13 areas of expertise are recognized by the international community for their expertise in animal diseases and have been identified as reference laboratories and collaborating centres for the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH; founded as Office International des Épizooties (OIE)), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Eastern laboratory network

Charlottetown Laboratory – Plant

Charlottetown Laboratory

Specialization: Plant
Address: 93 Mount Edward Road
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

The Charlottetown laboratory is responsible for detecting and diagnosing plant diseases. It plays a key role in supporting the trade of Canadian plant goods through the development of technology and techniques that satisfy import and export requirements for clean, disease and pest-free plants.

What's happening at the Charlottetown lab

Dartmouth Laboratory – Food

Dartmouth Laboratory

Specialization: Food
Address: 1992 Agency Drive
Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Dartmouth laboratory carries out regulatory testing to support CFIA's food safety programs. It develops, optimizes, and validates new scientific methods for use in food-related testing.

What's happening at the Dartmouth lab

Saint-Hyacinthe Laboratory – Food and animal health

Saint-Hyacinthe Laboratory

Specialization: Food and animal health
Address: 3400 boul. Casavant Ouest
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec

The Saint-Hyacinthe laboratory is active in food safety and animal health on numerous fronts. It houses the National Reference Centre for Food Virology and includes a microbiology team that performs regulatory tests for bacteria that cause food-borne illness. It also hosts a research team that develops new methods for detecting viruses in foods.

What's happening at the Saint-Hyacinthe lab

Longueuil Laboratory – Food

Longueuil Laboratory

Specialization: Food
Address: 1001 St-Laurent
Longueuil, Quebec

The Longueuil laboratory has analytical expertise in several fields related to food safety and consumer protection. It is the only CFIA laboratory with expertise in analyzing the nutritional value of foods. This is used to check the nutrition labelling of domestic and imported food products in Canada. It is a national reference and research centre for allergens.

What's happening at the Longueuil lab

Ontario laboratory network

Ottawa (Carling) Laboratory – Food, animal health, and plant

Ottawa (Carling) Laboratory

Specialization: Food, animal health, and plant
Address: 960 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario

The Ottawa Laboratory (Carling) performs services relating to the quality of food and food-related products. These range from microbiology and chemistry services focusing on fertilizer, animal feed and food products to innovative research in DNA-based techniques, such as whole genome sequencing methods and software for understanding food-borne bacteria.

What's happening at the Ottawa Carling lab

Greater Toronto Area Laboratory – Food

Greater Toronto Area Laboratory

Specialization: Food
Address: 2301 Midland Avenue
Scarborough, Ontario

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) laboratory analyzes food to for the detection of contaminants and bacteria that pose a risk to public health.

What's happening at the Greater Toronto Area lab

Ottawa (Fallowfield) Laboratory – Food, animal health, and plant

Ottawa (Fallowfield) Laboratory

Specialization: Food, animal health, and plant
Address: 3851 Fallowfield Road
Ottawa, Ontario

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reference laboratory for:

  • Chronic wasting disease
  • Rabies
  • Scrapie

The Ottawa (Fallowfield) Laboratory is a multidisciplinary research, technology development and diagnostic services laboratory located on 2,000 acres of land in the Ottawa Greenbelt. It has scientific expertise in all areas of the CFIA's work in food, plant and animal health. It is the only large-animal facility in eastern Canada and is a World Organisation for Animal Health reference laboratory for rabies, scrapie and chronic wasting disease, and is an international collaborating centre for control and epidemiology of rabies in carnivores. Scientists deliver extensive genomic research and technology development to support animal, plant and food safety science.

What's happening at the Ottawa Fallowfield lab

National centres for animal diseases (NCAD)

Winnipeg Laboratory – Animal health and disease control

National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, Winnipeg

Specialization: Animal health and disease control
Address: 1015 Arlington Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reference laboratory for:

  • Bovine viral diarrhoea
  • Classical swine fever
  • Highly pathogenic avian influenza and low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry)

The Winnipeg laboratory is the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, one of CFIA's national centres for animal disease. This laboratory specializes in research for the detection and prevention of animal diseases that do not originate in Canada, such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza. The lab supports this work by developing technology and providing diagnostic services.

What's happening at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease lab

Lethbridge Laboratory – Food and animal health

National Centre for Animal Diseases, Lethbridge

Specialization: Food and animal health
Address: Twp. Road 9-1
Lethbridge County, Alberta

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reference laboratory for:

  • Anthrax
  • Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

The Lethbridge laboratory is one of the CFIA's national centres for animal disease, and is the CFIA Centre for Vector-Borne Diseases. It contributes to the health and protection of animals through diagnostic testing and research. These services are vital in providing the tests required for the export of animals and animal products for trade.

What's happening at the National Centre for Animal Diseases lab

Western laboratory network

Saskatoon Laboratory – Food, plant, and animal health

The Saskatoon Laboratory

Specialization: Food, animal health, and plant
Address: 116 Veterinary Road
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reference laboratory for:

  • Trichinellosis

The Saskatoon laboratory specializes in testing animal feeds, seeds and food, including parasites and drug residues. It includes the Centre for Food-Borne and Animal Parasitology, the Centre for Veterinary Drug Residues and the Seed Science and Technology Section.

What's happening at the Saskatoon lab

Burnaby Laboratory – Food

The Burnaby Laboratory

Specialization: Food
Address: 3155 Willingdon Green
Burnaby, British Columbia

The Burnaby laboratory supports the CFIA's wide array of food safety programs with chemistry, microbiology and virology testing. It includes a regional satellite lab of the National Reference Centre for Food Virology, which tests for norovirus and hepatitis A virus, and has specialised expertise in testing for food viruses in bivalve shellfish.

What's happening at the Burnaby lab

Calgary Laboratory – Food

The Calgary Laboratory

Specialization: Food
Address: 3650 36th Street NW
Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary laboratory specializes in detecting pesticide residues and chemical contaminants such as dioxins or furans in a wide variety of food, animal feeds and fertilizers. It does this through its microbiology and analytical chemistry testing sections.

What's happening at the Calgary lab

Burnaby Laboratory – Food

Centre for Plant Health, Sidney Laboratory

Specialization: Plant
Address: 8801 East Saanich Road
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Sidney laboratory, the Centre for Plant Health, is Canada's only post-entry quarantine, research and diagnostic facility for tree fruit, grapevine and small fruit and is responsible for testing these types of plants for viruses. This laboratory is isolated from commercial plantings, which helps to prevent a possible spread of infection, and has a climate that is suited to cultivating all of Canada's fruit crops and ornamental plants.

What's happening at the Centre for Plant Health lab

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