The Canadian Agricultural Review Tribunal has overturned a $10,000 penalty issued to Universal Ostrich Farm, ruling the Canadian Food Inspection Agency failed to properly serve a quarantine order following a December 2024 avian flu outbreak.
The farm was issued a $10,000 penalty in January 2026 by the agency for failing to notify the CFIA of the initial outbreak. Tribunal chair Emily Crocco concluded upheld the penalty, ruling that the farm breached a section of the Health of Animals Act.
However, tribunal member Patricia Farnese ruled on Feb. 6, 2026, that the penalty should be set aside, citing the CFIA’s failure to personally deliver the quarantine notice.
“The Agency’s failure to personally deliver the quarantine notice as mandated by subsection 91.4 of the HA Regulations is fatal to its case,” Farnese wrote.
Farnese found the CFIA initially sent the farm a quarantine notice by email on Dec. 31, 2024, after verbally informing the farm of the quarantine requirement.
The notice was amended several times and repeatedly emailed to the farm and later to its lawyer.
However, a physical copy of the amended notice was not delivered in person until Feb. 26, which Farnese ruled was improper.
Under the Health of Animals Regulations, quarantine notices “shall be communicated by personal delivery.” Farnese ruled that wording requires a physical, hand-delivered notice and does not include service by email.
“The Agency proposes a definition of personal delivery that includes service by email. This definition, however, is inconsistent with the plain and ordinary meaning of personal delivery and Parliament’s intent. A notice sent by email is not personal delivery,” the decision states.
The tribunal also rejected the CFIA’s argument that emailing the notice to the farm’s lawyer satisfied notification requirements, noting the regulations do not allow for alternative methods of service or exceptions for delivery through legal counsel.
Farnese also dismissed the CFIA’s claims that winter conditions, the farm’s remote location or the presence of protesters made personal delivery impractical.
The ruling said evidence showed CFIA staff accessed the property multiple times during the period in question.
“The Agency’s evidence shows that staff made multiple visits to the property to conduct inspections and monitor the quarantine,” the decision reads.
“In fact, videos submitted by the Agency to the Tribunal show protesters livestreaming from Universal’s property during this period. Although snow is visible, the road appears to be plowed and persons are outside under sunny blue skies.”
Farnese also found no evidence the farm waived its right to personal delivery or that exceptional circumstances justified an exception to the requirement.
The tribunal emphasized quarantine notices are treated differently from other animal health communications under federal law because they trigger immediate disease-control measures.
“Personal delivery allows the Agency to immediately assess the gravity of the disease threat, the person’s capacity to effectively quarantine, and/or their willingness to comply with the quarantine order,” the decision states, adding that email service “defeats these purposes entirely.”
Because the notice was improperly served, Farnese ruled it was unnecessary to consider whether the farm breached quarantine conditions.
“Without proper service of the quarantine notice, any contraventions alleged to have occurred between February 6 and February 26 cannot stand,” Farnese wrote.
The notice of violation and the $10,000 penalty were set aside.
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