• This program is aligned with the national Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) Specialty Production Policy that identifies which specialty breeds are deemed "designated".

• Silkies and Yellow chickens and a number of specialty chicken breeds grown in British Columbia (BC) are the current "designated" specialty chicken breeds that may be grown under this program.

Participants must: 

• Be a Canadian citizen and permanent resident of Ontario.

• Be the beneficial owner of lands and buildings suitable for the production of specialty breeds of chicken.

• If an approved applicant requires time to build such a facility, they have a period of 12 months from the date their application is approved to complete the construction and as an interim measure, may produce specialty chicken in a non-owned facility that meets CFO policy and regulations.

• Persons who are interested in growing designated specialty breeds of chicken and interested in becoming a farmer-member of Chicken Farmers of Ontario.

• Persons who are currently growing designated specialty breeds of chicken who are interested in becoming a farmer-member of Chicken Farmers of Ontario.

• Existing farmer-members who are currently growing designated specialty breeds of chicken breeds or who are interested in growing these breeds of chicken.

• Those interested in participating in the program are required to complete and submit an application digitally by clicking here.
• The program has been designed to be an annual process. As the first year will be a transition, the application deadlines are:
   

  QUOTA PERIODS	PROVINCIAL MARKET REQUIREMENTS TO CFC	SPECIALTY LICENSEES' COMMITMENT FORMS TO CFO
  A-161 (Jan. 19 - Mar. 14, 2020) & A-162 (Mar. 15 - May 9, 2020)	September 24, 2019	September 13, 2019
  A-163 (May 10 - July 4, 2020) & A-164 (July 5 - Aug. 29, 2020)	January 29, 2020	January 20, 2020
  A-165 (Aug. 30 - Oct. 24, 2020) & A-166 (Oct. 25 - Dec. 19, 2020)	May 26, 2020	May 18, 2020
  A-167 (Dec. 20, 2020 - Feb. 13, 2021) & A-168 (Feb. 14 - Apr. 10, 2021)	Septemer 8, 2020	August 30, 2020
  A-169 (Apr. 11 - June 5, 2021) & A-170 (Jun. 6 - July 31, 2021)	January 13, 2021	January 4, 2021

     
• An applicant is encouraged to apply to produce a minimum level of production of specialty breeds of chicken per quota period over the next year.
• The minimum flock size has been established at 5000 birds of Yellow chickens or similar BC varieties and at 5000 Silkie birds.

• The approved applicant will be granted a "Right" to grow and market specialty breeds of chicken.

• The Right, known as Specialty Breeds Allotment (SBA), is specific only to the particular farmer-member to whom it is granted and is not trade-able, transferable, rentable and may not be pledged as security for indebtedness, and has no financial value attributed to it.

• New farmer-members allotted SBA and when having complied with all CFO Policies and Regulation, will have the same rights and obligations as existing farmer-members who are allottees of basic quota. Compliance includes:
  • Pass barn inspection
  • Pass workplace safety inspection
  • Complete On-farm Food Safety Audit and all Mandatory Corrective Action Reports (CARs)
  • Complete Animal Care Program Audit and all Mandatory CARs

• For this Right, the approved applicant will be required to:
  • Meet all CFO policies and regulations immediately, or within a year if required
  • Demonstrate that a specialty market is being met
  • Electronically transfer to CFO the "Sector Development Service Charge", initially in the amount of 5 cents per kilogram for each Specialty Breeds Allotment held, payable within 30 days to CFO after the producer has received payment for the chicken marketed
  • Maintain records to confirm compliance with the Program
  • Adhere to scheduled and random inspections or audits by an appointed inspector of the Board
  • Complete and submit electronically CFO's Form SBC and CFC's Commitment Form

• CFO is endevouring to provide excellent customer service digitally in all aspects of the Specialty Breeds Chicken Program.

• Approved participants are required to have the means to communicate digitally via email and to submit all forms once they are all made available on-line. CFO staff will be pleased to assist new farmer-members in the transition to digital business services.

• A Rights holder will be growing an approved amount of kilograms in the first year, and renewed annually, until the farmer-member exits the sector. Upon exit, the Rights are returned to CFO.

• CFO will consider transferring the Rights upon the sale of the production facilities to the new owner.

• An application for the Right to increase production is required annually. If the farmer-member elects to reduce their production in any quota period or annually moving forward, they must inform CFO 4 weeks in advance of the commencement of the quota period in question.

• The number of Rights granted is subject to all CFO and CFC fees and levies.
• At this time, the CFO producer licence fee is $0.0160/kg and the CFC levy is $0.0053/kg.
• The Board has established a "Sector Development Service Charge" initially in the amount of 5 cents per kilogram for each SBA held, payable electronically within 30 days to CFO after the farmer-member has received payment for the chicken marketed.
• For CFC, a "specialty chicken licence" is required and will be issued by CFC following the receipt of $100. This licence is valid for 5 years, similar to the Market Development licence.

• A farmer-member may hold both basic quota and Rights (Specialty Breeds Allotment), but only if they currently are allotted a minimum of 14,000 basic quota units.

• Every Right must be grown first, and any chicken other than specialty breeds grown under a basic quota allotment will not be counted against the CFC Specialty Breeds Chicken Quota allocation.

• Basic quota allotments and Rights production must remain segregated, as production may not occur in the same barn.

New specialty breeds chicken farmers will need to be able to demonstrate:

• Sound business acumen and professional background
• A successful track record
• The ability to invest in a barn that can to grow at least 5,000 chickens per growing cycle
• Proven relationship-building to work with CFO and value chain partners, such as retailers and distributors to grow the market
• The ability to operate CFO's proven production and marketing systems