CFIA Population and Inspection Staff, from Agency Inception to March 2010

The below chart reflects the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) total employee population each year beginning June 1997. Within the CFIA population (blue), there are additional breakdowns to reflect the number of inspection staff (orange) and within the inspection staff, the number of field inspection staff / inspectors (black).

The CFIA population represents all employees, including inspection staff, as well as additional essential positions relating to audit and evaluation, legal, human resources and corporate services.

Inspection staff includes the field inspection staff (as defined below) as well as a variety of other inspection positions such as chemists, risk assessors, supervisors and scientific researchers. These positions are crucial to the CFIA's inspection and enforcement responsibilities as they conduct tasks such as laboratory testing, food safety investigations and veterinary evaluation.

Field Inspection Staff includes front-line inspectors and inspection managers who work in food processing plants, import service centres and field offices across the country. This includes food safety inspectors for meat, fish, dairy, eggs, processed products, fruits and vegetables, labelling, as well as inspectors who specialize in food safety investigations. Field inspectors are responsible for animal health, plant health, as well as feeds, seeds and fertilizers.

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