Important Notices

Official Languages Notice

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) respects the Official Languages Act and the relevant Treasury Board policies, and is committed to ensuring all information and services on this site are available in both English and French (or in one language only if a unilingual office). However, visitors should be aware that some information from external sources that are not subject to the Official Languages Act are only provided as a convenience and are available only in the language in which they are provided.

Additionally, information and services that are provided on this site in languages other than English or French are only provided as a convenience to the visitor when available.

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

Materials on this Web site were produced and/or compiled by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the purpose of providing Canadians with direct access to information about the programs and services offered by the Government of Canada.

The material on this site is covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, by Canadian laws, policies, regulations and international agreements. Such provisions serve to identify the information source and, in specific instances, to prohibit reproduction of materials without written permission.

Non-Commercial Reproduction

Information on this Web site has been posted with the intent that it be readily available for personal or public non-commercial use and may be reproduced, in part or in whole, and by any means, without charge or further permission, unless otherwise specified.

Users are required to:

  • Exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;
  • Indicate both the complete title of the materials reproduced, as well as the author organization; and
  • Indicate that the reproduction is a copy of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada and that the reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada.

Unless otherwise specified, this authorization is also applicable to all published information regardless of its format.

Commercial Reproduction

Reproduction of multiple copies of materials on this site, in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution is prohibited except with written permission from the Government of Canada's copyright administrator, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). Through the permission granting process, PWGSC helps ensure individuals/organizations wishing to reproduce Government of Canada materials for commercial purposes have access to the most accurate, up-to-date versions. To obtain permission to reproduce materials on this site for commercial purposes, please visit Applying for Copyright Clearance on Government of Canada Works.

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Publishing and Depository Services
350 Albert Street, 4th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0S5 Canada
copyright.droitdauteur@pwgsc.gc.ca

Third-Party Materials

Some of the materials and graphical elements found on Government of Canada Web sites are subject to copyrights held by other organizations. This is particularly true of sites that are jointly operated by a Government of Canada institution and an external organization as part of a collaborative arrangement. In such cases, some restrictions on the reproduction of materials or graphical elements may apply and it may be necessary to seek permission from the rights holder prior to reproducing the material.

To obtain information concerning copyright ownership and restrictions on reproduction on this site, please contact E-Communications at agr@agr.gc.ca

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Privacy Notice

The Government of Canada is committed to providing visitors with Web sites that respect their privacy. This page summarizes the privacy policy and practices on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Web sites; you can also access summaries of Privacy Impact Assessments that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has completed to date from this page. Additionally, the Federal Privacy Commissioner's Web site provides a summary list of your privacy rights.

  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Web sites do not automatically gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, phone number or e-mail address. We would only obtain this type of information if you supply it voluntarily through channels such as email or Web forms.
  • All personal information created, held or collected by this department is protected under the federal Privacy Act. This means that at any point of collection you will be asked for consent to collect your information, and you will be informed of the purpose for which it is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to that information.
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted our Web site, the date and time of the visit, and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.
  • The Department uses persistent and per-session cookies to track how visitors use this site. The cookies we use do not identify individuals. They are compiled into statistical information on traffic patterns and are used to assess site efficiency. Rejecting cookies will not affect the site performance or restrict your ability to access information from this site. Visitor information is not disclosed to anyone except Government of Canada personnel who need the information to carry out responsibilities of their job. Any further disclosure of the personal information you give us will be in accordance with the federal Privacy Act.
    • Session cookies: These cookies reside in the Web browser and are deleted as soon as the visitor closes the Web browser. Session cookies remember information only for as long as the visitor operates the Web browser in a single "session".
    • Persistent cookies: These cookies have an expiry date, are stored on a visitor's hard drive and are read by the visitor's browser each time the visitor visits the Web site that sent the cookie. It is possible for the Web site that created the cookie to extend the expiry date without notice to the visitor. They will remain there until the set date has expired or until the visitor deletes the file.
  • Information we collect during your visit to our site:
    • The IP address and name of your service provider's server.
    • The date and time of the visit.
    • The pages visited.
    • The length of each visit.
    • The requests made per visit.
    • Your browser type (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, etc.)
    • The referring page of the visit.
  • Information supplied by individual visitors is used by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada employees who need to know the information in order to respond to your request or to ensure the security of this system. We only share the information you give us with another government department if your inquiry relates to that department. We do not use the information to create individual profiles, nor do we disclose this information to anyone outside the federal government.
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is a participant in the Government of Canada Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which provides the opportunity for certain individuals to communicate with the Department in a confidential manner. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) PKI introduction provides additional information on PKI and how to use it.
  • The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Web site, unless explicitly noted otherwise, is not a secure form of transmission. As such, it is not recommended that sensitive personal information, like your Social Insurance Number (SIN) or Personal Insurance Number (PIN), be included in any correspondence you send this institution via electronic means such as email or online contact forms.

Questions or comments regarding this policy, or the administration of the Privacy Act in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada may be directed to:

Brenda Dallaire
Acting Co-ordinator, Access to Information and Privacy
Room 227, 3rd Floor
1341 Baseline Road, Tower 4
Ottawa, ON K1A 0C5
Telephone: 613-773-1386
Fax: 613-773-1380
Email: brenda.dallaire@agr.gc.ca

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

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Hyperlinking Notice

Links to Web sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Users should also be aware that information offered by non-GoC sites to which Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada links is not subject to the Privacy Act and the Official Languages Act and may sometimes only be available in the language(s) used by the sites in question.

Criteria for Hyperlinking to and from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Web Sites

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Web sites are aimed at delivering information and services to users that are relevant and applicable to its mandate and that of the Government of Canada (GoC). To this end, the following criteria will be used by AAFC to determine the suitability of links to and from its Web sites.

This criteria applies to all of AAFC's Web sites.

General Parameters Governing Linking

  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) reserves the right to refuse to post a link, to refuse to renew a link, or to terminate an existing link without prior notice due to non-compliance with the criteria mentioned below or for any other appropriate reason which may include, but is not restricted to site navigation or content problems or frequent client complaints.
  • AAFC does not sell advertising or the benefits associated with links or banners.
  • Links may not work as we do not control the availability of externally linked pages.
  • AAFC does not display third party logos, images or icons on its Web site unless a Collaborative Arrangement exists.

Links from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Web Sites

If you would like to request that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provide a link to an external Web site, please review the criteria that follow before submitting your request. Decisions to post links on this site will be subject to these criteria.

  • The content of the site reflects the objectives of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and is consistent with its mandate. In some cases, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada may consider linking to organizations who are related to the overall GoC mandate, as opposed to the individual mandate of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
  • The creation of a link does not provide unfair competitive advantage through on-line endorsements of third party interests. Links are provided for convenience purposes only and are not an endorsement or rating of the content of the sites to which they are made.
  • Please note that links created within the context of a Collaborative Arrangement are not considered an endorsement, nor do they provide an unfair competitive advantage.
  • The site is not considered inappropriate due to its content or its affiliations.
  • The content of the site complies with the laws of Canada, which includes such items as copyright, privacy, etc.
  • The content of the site is kept current and accurate.
  • The site must allow users to navigate back to the present site; they cannot block the user's return to this site by using embedded code or other techniques within the linked page that prevent the use of the browser "back" button.
  • The site provides contact information that includes, as a minimum, two of the following:
    • e-mail
    • postal mail
    • phone number
    • TTY/TTD number

In addition, please note that:

  • Preference may be given to sites that make their information available in both official languages.
  • Preference may be given to sites that meet the accessibility requirements outlined in Common Look and Feel Standards 2.0.
  • Preference may be given to sites that provide uninterrupted, free access to users.

Links to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Web Sites

Generally, Government of Canada (GoC) institutions encourage third parties to link to the GoC. Sites wishing to link to AAFC's Web site, therefore, do not need to request permission to do so. We do, however, ask that you follow these linking practices.

  • Use only text links for linking to AAFC's Web sites.
  • Do not link and/or use the official symbols of the GoC and Federal Identity Program (FIP) signatures as navigational aids.
  • The official symbols of the GoC and the FIP signatures appear on non-government sites only when they are used to identify a government contribution or participation in a Collaborative Arrangement.
  • The creation of a link does not confuse the user as to the source of the information through such practices as framing.
  • The links provided respect the Copyright/Permission to Reproduce notice that governs materials published on AAFC's Web sites.