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25-05 - Wildlife Damage Compensation Program
Ensuring our producers have a viable, well-run program is critical to help mitigate the risk our producers face from wildlife predation alongside domestic dog predation. In 2024, the Ontario Wildlife Damage Compensation program (OWDCP) paid out a total of $1,101,040.75 over 579 incidents involving beef cattle within the province. In the Kawartha Lakes region, the program paid out a total of $114,249.68 over 61 incidents.
The Protection of Livestock and Poultry from Dogs Act has maximum values associated with each species of livestock and has further sub-categories within it for both registered and non-registered cattle. Currently, the compensation maximums established within the Act’s regulations are $2,500 for non-registered cattle and $8,000 for registered cattle. These maximum values differ from those established in the OWDCP, which are $4,000 for non-registered cattle and $8,000 for registered cattle. The value of the animal is determined by using the indicated weight and a standardized fair market value formula. With the current market prices of beef cattle, these maximum compensation limits are going to become very restrictive on the compensation producers receive. BFO would like to see the maximum compensation values align with the CFIA destruction rate values. As of the June 2025 update, they are $16,500 (from $10,000, set in 2015) for registered cattle and $10,000 (from $4,500, set in 2015) for non-registered cattle.
To address the maximum compensation value limits for both the Protection of Livestock and Poultry from Dogs Act and the OWDCP, BFO alongside Ontario Sheep and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture sent a letter to Minister Jones of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) regarding the need to increase the maximum compensation as the current market prices have surpassed the current maximum prices set by the ministry. A copy of this letter can be found in the PDF version of this resolution response.
In the letter, we also recommended streamlining the process of wildlife predation claims. Over the past number of years, BFO has received complaints from our members that the turnaround times for their predation claims were falling outside of the service standards put forward by OMAFA. In some cases, we heard of wait times up to six months after the claim was submitted before payment was received. We recommended the ministry look into the model they use in unorganized townships, where producers submit their own claims directly to OMAFA and receive their payment directly from the ministry. If this process was used province wide, it would allow the program to eliminate the intermediary and create a more efficient process. This would also enable counties and townships to offload the program from their duties, as many municipalities struggle to find investigators or at times are even unaware that they are responsible for administering the program.
BFO participated in a roundtable for red tape reduction at the beginning of September, and one of the recommendations we brought forward was to replace the current predation compensation program with a self-reporting and central verification system. This would result in a program that is timely for our producers, will allow claims to be processed faster by the ministry and save time and money for the ministry and municipalities as there will no need for the municipality to have to investigate.
BFO is a member of OMAFA’s Ontario Wildlife Conflict Working Group, which meets quarterly and is responsible for reviewing program stats and discuss potential improvements to the program. Be assured that BFO will bring concerns forward to that group and push for change within the program so it can be timelier and more predictable for producers. If there are any further comments or concerns about the program, please contact the office to ensure they are addressed.
BFO will update members on any further progress on this file