Livestock Transport in Canada: Feed, Water and Rest Rules

Quick answer: Every Canadian carrier that hauls livestock for business works under Part XII of the Health of Animals Regulations, enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). It caps how long animals can go without feed, safe water and rest: 36 hours for cattle and other ruminants, 28 hours for pigs and horses, and 12 hours for any compromised animal. It also requires a shipment record made at loading and kept on board, a written transfer of care at slaughter plants and assembly centres, a contingency plan and trained staff. The driver's own hours of service still apply on top of the animals' limits.

This guide is for owners and dispatchers of Canadian livestock carriers: cattle liners and pot trailers moving calves and fats between ranches, auction marts, feedlots and packers, and hog and horse haulers. It explains the rules a truck company has to plan around and what a TMS should do for that work.

Who Part XII applies to

Part XII governs anyone who loads, confines, transports or unloads animals in a conveyance, and many of its duties fall on the commercial carrier and anyone else who transports animals "in the course of business or for financial benefit". That includes for-hire livestock carriers and feedlots or dealers moving their own cattle. The rules were rewritten in 2019 (SOR/2019-38) and have been fully enforced by the CFIA since the compliance promotion period on the feed, water and rest intervals ended in February 2022.

For a trucking company, the practical duties are:

• keep animals inside the feed, water and rest intervals for their species and condition;
• make a record for each shipment at loading and keep it with the load;
• hand over a transfer of care document at slaughter establishments and assembly centres;
• have a contingency plan and make sure the people involved know it;
• train everyone who loads, transports or unloads animals, or makes decisions about it.

Feed, water and rest intervals

Section 152.2 sets the maximum intervals. No one may load, confine, transport or unload an animal unless it gets feed, safe water and rest at intervals that do not exceed the following:

Tighter limits apply to the youngest animals. Ruminants too young to be fed only on hay and grain, and livestock, camelids or cervids eight days old or less, must get feed, safe water and rest within 12 hours of when they were last fed. Newly hatched poultry must be fed and watered within 72 hours of hatching.

Two details change how you plan a trip:

• The clock starts before your truck arrives. Each interval begins when the animal was last fed, last given safe water, or last rested for at least eight consecutive hours, not when it was loaded. Calves off a ranch or out of an auction mart may already have hours on their clock. Ask the shipper when the animals last had feed and water.
• Rest means eight hours. An interval of rest is measured from the last rest of at least eight consecutive hours, so a short stop at the side of the road does not reset it.

For long hauls, from Alberta feedlots to eastern packers or from western ranches to Ontario, plan where the animals will be unloaded for feed, water and rest before the truck is dispatched, and book the facility ahead.

The shipment record (section 154)

For each shipment, the carrier must make a record at the time of loading that includes:

1. the name and address of the shipper, the consignee and the person operating the truck;
2. the identifying or registration number of the conveyance;
3. the floor area available to the animals, in square metres or square feet;
4. when and where the trailer was last cleaned and disinfected;
5. when and where the animals were loaded;
6. the number, description and weight of the animals;
7. when the animals were last fed, watered and rested before loading.

During the trip, the carrier must add any changes as soon as possible, plus the date, time and place of every feed, water and rest stop and the date, time and place of arrival. The original record or a copy must stay on board with each shipment. A record written on paper and left in a door pocket is the first thing an inspector asks for, and the last thing anyone can find after a long trip, which is why many carriers now photograph it into the load as well.

Transfer of care at plants and assembly centres

Under section 153, a carrier may not leave animals at a slaughter establishment or an assembly centre, such as an auction mart, without giving the consignee a written notice that the animals have arrived and a document stating the animals' condition on arrival, when and where they were last fed, watered and rested, and when they arrived. Responsibility for the animals' care passes from the carrier to the consignee as soon as the consignee acknowledges receipt of the notice and the document.

For dispatch this means a delivery to a packer or auction mart is not finished until the transfer of care is acknowledged. A driver who drops and leaves at night without it still has the animals in their care.

Contingency plans and training

Section 138.2 requires every commercial carrier, and anyone transporting animals for business, to have a contingency plan setting out what it will do to stay within Part XII if unforeseen delays or circumstances could cause animals unnecessary suffering, injury or death, or if an animal becomes compromised or unfit during loading, transport or unloading. The people who load, transport or unload, and anyone advising the driver, must know the plan.

Section 138.1 requires carriers to train those same people, or make sure they are trained, in subjects that include animal behaviour for the species they handle. Keep a record of who was trained and when, and make the contingency plan something a driver can find at three in the morning: who to call, which facilities can take animals on short notice, and when to turn around.

Hours of service on top of animal welfare

Livestock drivers follow the federal Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations (SOR/2005-313) on extra-provincial trips, with the usual 13 hours of driving, 14 hours on duty and 16-hour work shift limits. Section 2 excludes only a two or three-axle vehicle carrying the primary products of a farm when the driver or the carrier is the producer, so a for-hire cattle liner is covered. See our Canadian hours of service guide for the details.

The two sets of rules can collide. A driver who runs out of hours with cattle on board cannot simply park for eight hours if the animals are close to their 36-hour limit and the trailer has no feed and water. That is why long livestock runs are planned with a team, a relay or a rest facility, and why dispatch needs to see the driver's remaining hours and the animals' time without feed, water and rest side by side.

Loads crossing into the United States add the US Twenty-Eight Hour Law and US hours rules. Our US site explains the 28-hour law and the US livestock hours exception, and our Canada versus US hours of service comparison covers the driver side.

How TruckerPro supports livestock carriers

TruckerPro is a TMS for Canadian and US carriers, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Trailer records can be typed as Livestock next to Reefer, Flatbed, Dump and the other trailer types, so your liners and pots show up in the fleet as what they are. Loads hold pickup, delivery and waypoint stops, each with its scheduled window and actual arrival and departure times, so a feed, water and rest stop can sit on the load as a waypoint with its own times. Drivers on the TruckerPro driver app (Mobile plan and up) photograph the shipment record, transfer of care document, scale tickets, BOLs and other paperwork into the load, using named custom document types where needed.

The hours of service audit reads Samsara, Motive or Geotab logs against the Canadian rules in SOR/2005-313 or the US rules, with each finding citing the rule, so you can see which drivers are short on hours before a long haul. Owner-operator and contractor pay are on the Operate plan and up, and invoicing is on every plan. Cross-border livestock loads can be filed on ACE and ACI eManifest through BorderPro on the Elite plan.

What it does not do: TruckerPro has no livestock-specific clock. It does not count feed, water and rest intervals, warn before a limit, fill in the section 154 record or transfer of care document for you, or keep contingency plans and Part XII training records as compliance records. Record those yourself; TruckerPro keeps the stop times, documents and hours data beside them.

Frequently asked questions

How long can cattle be on a truck in Canada without feed, water and rest?

Up to 36 hours for cattle and other ruminants that are not compromised, under section 152.2 of the Health of Animals Regulations. The limit is 28 hours for horses and pigs, 12 hours for any compromised animal, and shorter limits apply to young ruminants and to poultry and rabbits. Rest means at least eight consecutive hours.

What records does a livestock trucker have to keep in Canada?

For every shipment, section 154 requires a record made at loading: shipper, consignee and driver, the conveyance's identifying number, the floor area available, when and where it was last cleaned and disinfected, when and where the animals were loaded, their number, description and weight, and when they were last fed, watered and rested. Feed, water and rest stops and the arrival are added during the trip, and the record rides with the shipment.

What is a transfer of care document?

When a carrier leaves animals at a slaughter establishment or assembly centre, section 153 requires a written notice of arrival plus a document giving the animals' condition on arrival, when and where they were last fed, watered and rested, and when they arrived. Responsibility for the animals passes to the consignee once it acknowledges receipt.

Do livestock trucking companies need a contingency plan?

Yes. Section 138.2 requires every commercial carrier and anyone transporting animals for business to have a contingency plan for unforeseen delays and for animals that become compromised or unfit, and to make sure the people who load, transport and unload the animals know the plan. Section 138.1 also requires carriers to train those people.

Does TruckerPro track feed, water and rest intervals?

No. TruckerPro has no livestock-specific clock or section 154 record form. It holds the load's stop times, including a rest stop entered as a waypoint, the documents drivers upload from the app, and an hours of service audit against SOR/2005-313, while the feed, water and rest plan stays with you.

Sources

• Health of Animals Regulations, C.R.C., c. 296, Part XII, sections 138.1 to 154 (Justice Laws)
• Health of Animals Regulations Part XII: Transport of Animals (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
• Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations, SOR/2005-313 (Justice Laws)
• 49 U.S.C. 80502, Transportation of animals (GovInfo)