1. Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Invasive Alien Species Program Overview
North American Invasive Species Forum
Darlene Blair Chief Plant Health Officer
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
May 9, 2017

2. Outline The CFIA’s Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Program
How it fits within the CFIA and the Plant Health Program
Challenges and opportunities
Activities and accomplishments
Future

3. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Government of Canada’s key science-based regulatory agency with mandate to safeguard Canada’s food supply, animals and plants
The CFIA is Canada’s National Plant Protection Organization
Member of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
Government of Canada’s key science-based regulatory agency dedicated to safeguarding food, animals and plants, which enhances the health and well-being of Canada’s people, environment and economy.
To deliver inspection services across Canada, CFIA is divided into four areas and 18 regions across Canada.
Headquarter located in Ottawa, Ontario. 3 3

4. The CFIA’s Plant Protection Mandate
Protect Canada’s agriculture and forestry sectors and natural resources from the economic and environmental impact of introduced pests
Prevent import, export and spread of pests
Regulate the import, export and domestic movement of agricultural and forest products and other things
Facilitate access to foreign markets - phytosanitary perspective
Commodity focus: Forestry, Horticulture, Potatoes, Grains and Oilseeds
Cross-sector: International Phytosanitary Standards, Invasive Alien Species and Domestic Plant Health Programs
Main legislative authority is Plant Protection Act and Regulations which has purpose to:
“Protect plant life and the agricultural and forestry sectors of the Canadian economy by preventing the importation, exportation and spread of pests and by controlling or eradicating pests in Canada.”

5. Invasive Alien Species Program
Contributes to the on-going implementation of the National Invasive Alien Species Strategy
Dedicated section that manages horizontal issues and coordinates activities within the Agency and with domestic and international partners
Focus on prevention, early detection and early response to invasive alien species and pathways by which they may arrive in Canada
Partnerships: Shared Risk - Shared Responsibility concept
Component of CFIA’s Plant Protection Program
All plant protection work is directly or indirectly related to invasive alien species
International and Domestic Partnerships
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO)
Plant Health Quadrilateral Group
Bilateral engagement
Critical pest management committees with provinces
Canadian Council on Invasive Species
Provincial Invasive Plants or Invasive Species Centres
Invasive Species Centre in Ontario
Government of Canada
(e.g. Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Natural Resources Canada, Transport Canada, Parks Canada, Global Affairs Canada , Pest Management Regulatory Agency)

6. Invasive Alien Species Program
Aligned with the National IAS Strategy, the CFIA is committed to prevent or limit the introduction, spread and impact of invasive plants and other plant pests by such activities as:
pest risk analyses
import and domestic policies and programs
emergency response plans
surveys
diagnostic tests and identification tools
education, awareness and compliance promotion
international engagement
partnerships
National Plant Health Strategy
Conducting pest risk analyses, including pathways analysis and weed risk assessments
Developing, implementing and enforcing science-based import policies and programs (e.g. Invasive Plants Program)
Developing collaborative emergency response plans
Conducting surveys and providing training and support for survey delivery
Developing rapid and accurate diagnostic tests and providing rapid and accurate identification
Promoting public and industry awareness of high risk pathways and effective mitigation
Engaging and collaborating with international partners
Establishing a mechanism to facilitate collaboration and information sharing
Developing a National Plant Health Strategy

7. Selected Challenges and Opportunities
Diversity (origin and products) and volume of global trade
E-commerce
Domestic movement/biosecurity
Broad range and interests of stakeholders
New technologies
Climate change
Partnerships and collaboration
Challenges
internet and nursery sales of potentially invasive plants and other pests (e.g. giant African land snails, cockroaches)
Global warming → increasing range of plant pests and their capacity to over-winter in Canada.
Increasing management costs for Canada (e.g. high risk & profile pests such as the forest beetles, potato cyst nematode, plum pox virus, etc.).
Increasing diversity (origin and products) and volume of global trade (e.g. diverse products and wood-based packaging, from Asian countries).
Introduction of new innovative plant products – regulation keeping pace with emerging products and technologies and resulting trade impacts.
New or increasing contaminants in agricultural and forestry products
Stakeholder focus on sustainability of agricultural production (e.g. biofuels using invasive plants)
Wide range of stakeholders – Risk makers vs. Risk bearers ; costs and compensation
Opportunities
harmonization and collaboration with Canadian partners, industry as well as trading partners
modify, develop and implement programs, procedures, policies, tools to better meet stakeholder needs and CFIA mandate of protecting plant resource base

8. Activities and Accomplishments
Technical training/ information sessions
Asian longhorned beetle simulation sites
Proof of concept research with drones
Outreach, training and identification tools
Development of DNA detection assays to enhance diagnostic capacity
New data analysis tools for developing detection and control methods for regulated invasive species
Revisions to the Weed Seeds Order
New Invasive plants risk assessments (list on-line)
Idseed.ca
Wood dunnage program enhancement
Enhanced citizen science surveillance (CFIA information in EDDMapS)
Development of outreach, training and identification tools (e.g. field guides, fact sheets, pest detection cards)
Enhance citizen science surveillance by working with the Invasive Species Centre to add regulatory information in EDDMapS Ontario.
-Collaborating with BioForest Technologies Inc. on their volunteer-based surveillance program for IAS.
Development of DNA detection assays targeting CFIA’s regulated species to enhance diagnostic capacity
Foundational research of the GAPP project to develop tools capable of identifying geographic origin and epidemiological traits of various regulated pests.
Quarantine Invasive Species project has established new data repositories & data analysis tools for developing detection and control methods for regulated invasive species.
CFIA funded research project at Biodiversity Institute of Ontario to develop capacity to use genomic tools to modernize diagnostic testing.
Plant Species Risk Assessments - Available at:
Requests have been received from:
Provincial government departments (BC, QC); 0National government departments (AAFC, Parks Canada); International plant protection organizations (EPPO, USDA-APHIS)
List to be updated annually

9. What’s Next ?
Continue to identify new plant health risks, develop and implement risk-based solutions
Continue to focus on high risk pathways and proactive approaches to risk mitigation
Systems approaches and alternative service delivery
Establishing a Canadian Plant ‘Network of Experts’ will connect stakeholders and expertise within the Plant Health Science Community
Promoting citizen science and new diagnostic tools (e.g. drones, genomics and sniffer dogs)
Plant and Animal Health Strategy
Continue to focus on high risk pathways and proactive approaches (e.g. mitigation of risk at origin)
Systems approaches and alternative service delivery
Develop and implement end-use risk based import requirements

10. For Survey Reports, Protocols, Pest Info
Thank you.
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