Farmscape for February 3, 2026

March of 2028 is the target for completion of the latest update of Canada's Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs.
The National Farm Animal Care Council recommends that codes of practice for the care and handling of farmed animals in Canada be updated every ten years to take advantage of any new science or new technologies.
Canada's current Pig Code of Practice was released in 2014, the latest update of the Pig Code was launched in mid-May and the 14 members of two committees charged with updating the code held their first meeting in October.
Jackie Wepruk, the Division Director for the National Farm Animal Care Council, says code updates typically take two to three years to complete.

Quote-Jackie Wepruk-National Farm Animal Care Council:
Like all 14 codes of practice that have been developed through the National Farm Animal care Council, the Pig Code provides critical guidance  for the care and handling of farm animals.
In general Canada's codes of practice serve as our national understanding of animal care requirements and recommended practices.
The codes themselves are not regulations and the National Farm Animal Care Council is not a regulator.
That said, codes of practice do serve as reference material for provincial animal protection regulations and most provinces in Canada do in some way incorporate the codes of practice into their animal protection regulations.
For codes, including the Pig Code, the focus is on on-farm animal care practices.
We're looking at primary users being farmers and others who are responsible for the care and handling of those farmed animals.
In this instance we're looking at those responsible for the day to day caring for pigs.
Code themselves cover many on-farm related topics including housing and handling facilities, feed and water, health management, husbandry practices, so for example animal handling, the care of young and cull animals, resources for information on emergency management and preparedness, pre-transport considerations and finally euthanasia as well.

Wepruk says the goal is to have a completed draft updated Pig Code of Practice ready for public review by March of 2028.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers