Animal Welfare Coordinator

Our client is a well-established, family-owned pork processing company with more than 30 years of industry leadership. Their commitment to quality, innovation, and responsible growth has helped them deliver some of the freshest, highest-quality products in the market.

Must be eligible to work in Canada

Position Summary

The Animal Welfare Coordinator is responsible for ensuring humane handling, care, and slaughter of pigs in compliance with CFIA regulatory requirements, the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), and applicable animal welfare standards. This role provides on-floor oversight of live receiving, lairage, stunning, and slaughter activities, ensuring that animal welfare risks are identified, corrected, and prevented.

The position serves as the primary animal welfare subject-matter expert within the plant and works closely with CFIA veterinary inspectors, operations, and QA personnel.

Key Responsibilities

Animal Welfare & Humane Handling

• Monitor animal handling practices from live receiving through stunning and bleeding
  
• Verify effectiveness of stunning methods (electrical / CO₂ / captive bolt, as applicable)
  
• Ensure pigs are handled calmly and without unnecessary stress or suffering
  
• Confirm animals showing signs of distress, injury, or illness are managed appropriately
  
• Ensure compliance with humane slaughter regulatory requirements
  

Monitoring & Verification

• Conduct routine and documented animal welfare monitoring checks and audits
  
• Verify critical animal welfare control points, including:
  • Stocking density in lairage
    
  • Water access and environmental conditions
    
  • Stunning effectiveness and insensibility
    
• Immediately stop the process when humane handling is compromised
  
• Initiate and document corrective actions for deviations
  

Documentation & Records

• Maintain accurate animal welfare records required under the Preventive Control Plan (PCP)
  
• Complete daily logs, deviation reports, and corrective action records
  
• Ensure records are complete, legible, and available for CFIA inspection
  
• Support traceability documentation related to live animal handling
  

Training & Competency

• Train plant employees on animal welfare procedures and expectations
  
• Support onboarding and refresher training for live-animal handlers and slaughter staff
  
• Verify employee competency in humane handling and stunning activities
  
• Reinforce a culture of animal welfare awareness and accountability
  

Regulatory & CFIA Liaison

• Act as the primary contact for CFIA animal welfare-related verification activities
  
• Participate in CFIA inspections, audits, and investigations
  
• Respond to CFIA non-compliance findings and support corrective actions
  
• Assist with regulatory updates and implementation of new requirements
  

Continuous Improvement

• Identify trends in animal welfare data and recommend improvements
  
• Participate in root cause analysis for animal welfare incidents
  
• Support internal audits and management review processes
  
• Collaborate with operations and maintenance to improve equipment and procedures
  
• Attention to detail and observation skills
  
• Sound judgment and confidence in decision-making
  
• Calm, respectful approach to animal handling
  
• Strong communication and training ability
  
• Accountability and integrity
  
• Ability to work cross-functionally with operations and QA
  

What Success Looks Like

• Animals are consistently handled in a calm, humane, and compliant manner
  
• No major non-conformances in audits or inspections
  
• Reduced incidents of animal distress or injury
  
• Clear, up-to-date animal welfare procedures and documentation
  
• Team demonstrates understanding and accountability for animal welfare practices
  

This posting is for a newly created position.

Requirements

• Qualifications & Experience
  

  • Post-secondary education in:
    • Animal Science
      
    • Agriculture
      
    • Veterinary Technology
      
    • Related field
      
  • Hands-on experience in a slaughter or meat processing facility
    
  • Strong knowledge of:
    • Humane handling practices
      
    • Animal behaviour and welfare indicators (particularly swine)
      
  • Experience working with OMAFA and/or CFIA regulations
    
  • Familiarity with animal welfare certification programs (e.g., industry audits/standards)
    
  • Understanding of food safety principles within a HACCP environment
    

  Core Competencies
  

Benefits

Department: R&D / Quality Assurance
Status: Full-Time
Salary: $60,000 – $70,000

Typical Benefits