News release

Food Inspection

The Government must invest to protect the health of Canadians 

Ottawa – The federal government must invest to protect food safety and the health of Canadians, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) employees.

“Over recent months, we have tried to reach a collective agreement with the CFIA but Agency negotiators seem to have their hands tied by Treasury Board's purse strings,” indicated Nycole Turmel, PSAC National President.

The PSAC has approximately 3,500 members working at the CFIA. Management recently tabled a wage proposal of 1% per year for every year of the collective agreement. This offer in no way offsets the impact of inflation on the income of CFIA workers.

Furthermore, it would appear that CFIA negotiators do not have a mandate to move negotiations along. The employer continues to ignore the promise made to CFIA workers and to deny them the benefits afforded Treasury Board employees.

“When the government decided to contract food inspection out to an independent agency, an official promise was made to CFIA workers,” stated Yves Ducharme, President of the PSAC Agriculture Union. “We now realize that the government's primary purpose was to cut costs at the expense of workers.”

According to Ducharme, it is critical that the essential work performed by CFIA employees be recognized.

“Every day, all across Canada, our members are on the job to ensure that food is fit for consumption and that products are labelled as required by law,” Ducharme added.

Recently, PSAC requested that a conciliator step in to help negotiations move forward.

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Information :


Alain Cossette, PSAC Communications
(613) 560-4317

49-091003