Not a dairy farmer?

DairyTrace helps value chain participants meet traceability requirements

What you need to know
Watch this video for an overview of DairyTrace white tags and traceability

What you need to know Quick Reference Guides for:

Fairs

Abattoirs

4H leaders

Feedlots

What to do if animals have white tags

A white tag identifies an animal as a dairy animal, which is any bovine born on a dairy farm, including those that enter the beef value chain.

If you receive animals identified with white tags, you need an account in DairyTrace, in addition to your account with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency.

Get Started

Obtain your Premises Identification Number (PID)

The first step is obtaining your premises identification number (PID). A premises is a location site on which animals are kept, moved through, or disposed of.

Visit CFIA’s website for information on how to register your premises.

Set up your DairyTrace Account

Once you have your premises ID, you’re ready to activate an account in DairyTrace. Contact Customer Services at: 1-866-558-7223.

Report traceability events

Scroll to the next section for information on how to report through the DairyTrace portal or check out the tools and resources in our How To’s section.

DairyTrace is for all partners of the dairy cattle value chain, including but not limited to, veal farms, auction marts, assembly yards, fairs, veterinary clinics and abattoirs.

Who should be a part of DairyTrace?

Any person who houses livestock, even on a temporary basis, is encouraged to report traceability events for animals with white dairy tags to DairyTrace. This includes, but is not limited to:

Farms
Abattoirs / Rendering plants
Exhibitions / Fairgrounds
Auctions / Livestock facilities
Assembly yards / Pastures / Feedlots
Veterinary hospitals

All regulated parties that report federal events for both CCIA and DairyTrace tags are required to have an account in both databases. There are reporting processes and tools available to assist with reporting to two locations. The DairyTrace Portal and Mobile App are user-friendly options to report all your traceability events.

Click Get started or Contact Customer Services to set up your DairyTrace account.

Livestock Identification & Traceability: Part XV Health of Animals Regulations

What is DairyTrace

DairyTrace is Canada’s dairy cattle traceability program.

In the event of a disease outbreak, having complete traceability data from all cattle born on dairy farms helps enable a quick, effective regional/national response, mitigating the impact to the whole industry.

That’s why it’s so important for everyone involved in the dairy value chain to participate in traceability and report movements of dairy cattle. The ability to identify affected sites and animals through DairyTrace can help prevent further disease spread and protect healthy livestock.

« Traceability is the process of following an item or a group of items – be it animal, plant, food product or ingredient – from one point in the supply chain to another, either backwards or forwards, » – CFIA.

Reporting in DairyTrace

Current requirements for value chain partners

Under Part XV of the Health of Animals Regulations it is required to
report the following:

Tag Retirement/Death/Animal Rendering

Must be reported within 30 days of the event. A tag retirement confirms that the animal bearing the unique identification number has died or been exported and no longer needs to remain active in the national traceability system.

Tag Cross-Reference (previous tag number known)

When an animal loses a tag, it must be replaced with another official tag and then reported. If an unknown animal is re-tagged with a NEW number, it is required to report the previous tag number and the new number.

Import (enters Canada)

It is required to report imported animals from another country within 30 days. You will need the address from where the animal departed from and the vehicle/trailer license plate number, as imported animals will not have a recognized premise ID associated with the premises of origin in the other country.

Export (leaves Canada)

When exporting an animal to a destination outside of Canada, the movement must be reported within 30 days. This includes the location/address where the animals were exported to and the vehicle/trailer license plate number.

Refer to the Health of Animals Regulations for more details on the federal regulated traceability reporting. Livestock identification and traceability – inspection.canada.ca

Canadian dairy producers are required to follow federal and proAction® traceability guidelines. Refer to this factsheet for more information.

Note: The province of Québec has additional provincial traceability reporting guidelines. Refer to Attestra for details: Regulation – Attestra.

Ready to Report a Movement?

You’ve got options
1. Report a Movement through the DairyTrace Portal

Visit the DairyTrace How To’s page

2. Report a Movement through the Mobile App

3. Report a Movement to Customer Services

4. Download a paper form

5. Electronic Methods – Inquire on what options are available – email Customer Services

Data collected from DairyTrace can help protect our economy by preparing us for challenging times, as well as strengthening the reputation of the Canadian dairy sector and its products, here and around the world.

Voluntary event report types

Movement reporting best practices

It is highly recommended to report animal movement between two sites of different ownership (premises-to-premises) to DairyTrace.

Animal Move-in

Although currently voluntary for non-dairy farmers, it is strongly encouraged to report a move-in to DairyTrace when an animal arrives on a new premise from another premise located in Canada. This is already a requirement for dairy producers to report within seven (7) days of arrival.

Animal Move-out

It is recommended best practice that the departing premises make note of any move-out events for their own internal records and report those events to DairyTrace.

DairyTrace
660 Speedvale Avenue West, Suite 101
Guelph, Ontario N1K 1E5