The Canadian Beef Advantage

The Four Pillars of the Canadian Beef Advantage

In Canada, it is the shared efforts by many people across the supply chain that make it possible to produce our high quality beef products. To help share our story we have created a series of short animated features called vignettes. Each vignette is dedicated to a specific aspect within the four pillars that form the foundation of the Canadian Beef Advantage.

Click on an icon below to learn more.

Animal Health

Canada maintains a strong commitment to the control and elimination of serious animal diseases through our National Animal Health Program. This program administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires ongoing surveillance and is supported by the Canadian Cattle Identification System, the first of its type in North America.

  • Ante-mortem inspection

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  • Animal Welfare Standards

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  • Animal Health Monitoring

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  • Animal Health Product Approvals

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  • BSE Feed Controls

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  • Animal Genetics Import Controls

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  • Canadian Cattle Identification Agency

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  • Transport best practices

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  • National Animal Disease Surveillance

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  • HACCP Feed Production program

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  • Canadian Livestock Tracking System

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  • Canadian Food Inspection Agency

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Food Safety

Canada’s food safety system for beef slaughter and fabrication is based on the internationally recognized HACCP model. The focus of HACCP is the prevention of foodborne illness, which continues to be the most important priority of the Canadian beef industry.

 
  • Canadian Food inspection agency

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  • Box Label Information

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  • Post-Mortem Inspection

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  • Health Canada

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  • Temperature Monitoring

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  • HACCP Beef Safety Program

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  • Carcass Food Safety Treatments

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  • Cut/Trim Food Safety treatments

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  • Microbial Testing Programs

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  • National Chemical Residue Monitoring Program

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  • Removal of Specified Risk Materials

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  • Export Certification

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Grading Standards

Quality grades are assigned to carcasses by a Canadian Beef Grading Agency certified grader. The marbling thresholds that define USDA Prime (slightly abundant), Choice (small) and Select (slight) are also used in Canada to segregate youthful maturity carcasses into Canada Prime, AAA and AA respectively

  • Canadian Food inspection agency

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  • Canadian Beef Grading Agency

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  • Computer Vision Grading

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  • Beef Quality Grade

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  • Beef Yield Grade

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Beef Quality

Grain feeding contributes to well-marbled, flavourful and tender Canadian beef with firm, white-coloured fat. Canadian feeding practices enable approximately 90% of fed cattle to reach optimum market weights at 24 months of age or less. A younger age at harvest enhances tenderness and overall eating quality.

  • Cattle Breed improvement programs

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  • Canadian Beef Grading Agency

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  • Feed Ingredient approvals

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  • Product Specifications

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  • Beef Quality Grade

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  • Grain Feeding

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  • Environmental Standards

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