The Province of British Columbia will assign $1.2 million over three years to support the British Columbia Poultry Association to prevent outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.  Between April 2022 and the corresponding month in 2023, 100 commercial farms were infected with H5N1 HPAI resulting in the depopulation of 3.7 million birds.

Funding will be applied to train in structural and operational biosecurity and to supplement the inventory of personal protective equipment.

The poultry industry in British Columbia is concentrated in the Fraser Valley with many farms within 30 miles of the common border with Washington state.