$10K fine against Universal Ostrich Farm overturned

Ostrich farm fine overturned

Photo: The Canadian Press

Tarpaulins cover dead ostriches on the ground inside a holding pen at Universal Ostrich Farms near Edgewood, B.C., on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

A $10,000 penalty given to Edgewood, B.C.’s Universal Ostrich Farm over quarantine regulations has been overturned by a federal tribunal.

The fine issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency alleged multiple quarantine breaches between Feb. 6 and 26 after an outbreak of avian influenza, according to a ruling by the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal.

The tribunal, however, ruled that the CFIA failed to properly deliver the ostrich farm its quarantine notice in person, which the law requires.

Because the CFIA sent its quarantine notice to the farm by email, the tribunal set aside the penalty and notice of violation.

“The legislative intent deliberately required personal delivery for quarantine notices—a stricter standard than the broader service methods permitted elsewhere in the Health of Animals Act,” said the ruling.

“That choice must be respected. Without proper service, deciding whether Universal contravened the quarantine notice is unnecessary.”

The tribunal ruled that Parliament's choice of “personal delivery” of quarantine notices was intentional.

“Personal delivery allows for immediate compliance by ensuring the correct person at the correct location fully understands their obligations and is willing and able to comply.”

The CFIA attempted to argue that “practical challenges” impeded the hand delivery of the quarantine notice, something the tribunal ruled the CFIA undermined with its own actions.

“The agency asserts that ‘ice and snow made it difficult to access the property,’ which is in ‘a remote area in the small town of Edgewood, BC.’ Yet the agency’s evidence shows that staff made multiple visits to the property to conduct inspections and monitor the quarantine."

In a post to Facebook announcing the tribunal ruling, Universal Ostrich Farm spokesperson Katie Pasitney declared it was “Miracle Sunday.”

“Universal Ostrich Farms welcomes the clarity provided by the tribunal and hopes the decision contributes to improved transparency, consistency, and confidence in regulatory processes across Canada’s agricultural sector,” she said on Facebook.

“Clear rules, applied consistently, protect everyone; regulators, farmers, animals, and the public. When those rules are not followed, trust in the system is undermined. This ruling provides an important opportunity to reflect on how procedural safeguards support effective and humane disease response.”

The ruling comes a month after the same tribunal upheld a separate $10,000 penalty against the farm for not reporting a case of avian influenza.

After the bird flu was discovered on the farm in December 2024, a nine-month long battle erupted over the fate of more than 300 ostriches on the farm. After the Supreme Court of Canada declined to get involved in the case, the CFIA hired a marksman to cull the birds on the night of Nov. 6, 2025.

The entire ordeal cost taxpayers $6.8 million.