This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

This electronic version is copyright ©

, Province of Nova Scotia , all rights reserved. It is for your personal use and may not be copied for the purposes of resale in this or any other form.

Turkey Farmers of Nova Scotia Regulations

made under

Section 9 of the

Natural Products Act

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 308

O.I.C. 92-1202 (effective December 8, 1992), N.S. Reg. 266/1992

amended to N.S. Reg. 74/2025 (effective April 27, 2025)

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Definition regulation

Allocation of production quota for turkeys

Quota transfers

Retention of quota

Allotted quota classification by bird type category

Quota value

Allotted quota for public research

Allotment of quota in excess of base quota

Marketing licences

Exemptions from application of regulations

Producer marketing levy

Over production penalties

Registration of production facilities

Registration for quota

Registered processors’ licences

Producer Settlement Reports

Hatchery information

Transfer of quota by processors who are also producers

Definition regulation

1 In these regulations

(a) “Act” means

Chapter 308 of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1989, the

“ Natural Products Act ”;

(b) “allottee” means a person to whom the Board has, in respect of registered

premises, fixed and allotted a quota or quotas;

(c) “base quota” means that quota which has been allotted to a producer and is

registered at the offices of the Board as that producer’s base quota;

(d) “bird unit” means 4.76 kilograms of live weight turkey;

(e) “Board” means the Turkey Farmers of Nova Scotia;

(f) “broiler weight” class birds means any one of a flock of any variety of

turkey ordinarily marketed by a producer at a live flock weight averaging up

to 6.17 kilograms per bird;

(g) “control period” means the twelve month period covered by the Promotion

Agreement of the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency;

(h) “distribution” includes marketing, advertising, buying, selling, storing,

packing, transporting, shipping, shipping for sale or storage, and offering for

sale and includes any such activity by a peddler, a hawker and a trader, but

excludes any such activity by a producer who transports turkey from the

place of production to the place of slaughter;

(i) “facilities” means the building or buildings and land appurtenant thereto,

fixtures and equipment belonging to or operated by a producer that are used

for the housing and production of turkeys;

(j) “flock” means any group of turkeys housed in a producer’s facilities which

are being raised by the producer for marketing at the same live weight or

approximately the same live weight and at the same time or approximately

the same time;

(ja) “free range turkey” means any one of a flock of any variety of turkey which

(

i) is raised on a feed ration consisting solely of grains, vegetable

products and necessary vitamins and minerals and containing no

traces of rendered meat products or meat by-products, fish meal or

fish by-products, antibiotics or other medication of any kind,

including growth promoters,

(ii) has regular access to fresh air, sun, soil and green forage,

(iii) has been processed by a registered inspected processor.

(k) “hatchery” means a person supplying poults for the production of turkeys

within the Province of Nova Scotia;

(l) “hen weight” class birds means any one of a flock of any variety of turkey

ordinarily marketed by a producer at a live flock weight averaging 6.17

kilograms up to and including 9.76 kilograms per bird;

(m) “marketing” includes advertising, buying, selling, storing, packing,

transporting, shipping, shipping for sale or storage, and offering for sale, and

includes sale by peddlers, hawkers and traders;

(n) “minimum floor space” means the living space that is required by a living

bird during a production cycle but does not include floor space not normally

made available for use for turkey production such as basements, attics,

furnace rooms, halls, stairways;

(o) “new producer” means a person to whom the Board has allocated quota

from the New Turkey Producer Quota Bank or other quota not previously

held by a producer;

(p) “New Turkey Producer Quota Bank” means the quota account established

pursuant to Regulation 8;

(q) “person” includes any board, association, corporation, firm or partnership;

(r) “Plan” means the Nova Scotia Turkey Marketing Plan;

(s) “poult” means a turkey fifteen days of age or less;

(t) “process” or “processing” means altering the nature, size quality, or

condition of turkey by mechanical means or otherwise and includes

slaughtering;

(u) “processor” means a person operating a plant for the processing, distribution

or selling of turkeys;

(v) “producer” means any person engaged in the production of turkeys in the

Province of Nova Scotia for the purpose of sale or distribution;

(w) “production” means production for commercial purposes;

(x) “production cycle” means a marketing period determined from time to time

by the Board;

(y) “quota” means the bird units issued to a producer by the Board for the

purpose of establishing that a fair and measurable distribution of available

Provincial production has been made by the Board;

(z) “quota in excess of base” means that quota that is available for production

that is in excess of 100% of the existing base quota;

(aa) “registered processor” means a processor who is registered and licensed

with the Board;

(bb) “registered producer” means a producer who is registered for actual

production with the Board;

(cc) “tom weight” class birds means any one of a flock of any variety of turkey

ordinarily marketed by a producer at a live flock weight averaging over 9.76

kilograms per bird; and

(dd) “turkey” means any class or variety of turkey of any age, whether live, fresh

or frozen and includes any part or parts thereof.

Allocation of production quota for turkeys

2 (1) (

a) Subject to these regulations, the Board may allot quota for the production of

turkeys within the Province of Nova Scotia to producers who own land and

have buildings which they allocate to the production of turkeys.

(

b) The Board may, in its discretion

(

i) allot quota to a producer who is leasing land and buildings for the

purpose of using them for the production of turkeys, but the quota

may be withdrawn by the Board if the producer does not, within

three (3) years from the date of allotment, acquire full ownership of

the land and buildings, or

(ii) allot quota to a producer who neither owns nor leases land and

buildings for the purpose of using them for the production of turkeys,

provided the producer obtains such facilities within six months of

allotment and thereafter qualifies in accordance with subclause (

i) of

clause (b), or

(iii) allot quota in accordance with Regulation [Section] 8.

(2) Quota may only be held by or allotted to bona fide producers who are not directly

or indirectly, in the opinion of the Board, involved in the processing, hatchery, feed

manufacturing or distribution sectors of the poultry industry.

(3) (

a) The maximum quota that can be held or otherwise controlled by any one

turkey producer shall be limited to 30,000 bird units per production cycle

and in calculating bird units, consideration shall be given to all bird types,

classes, weights and grades of live turkey.

(

b) The maximum allowable combined live weight that can be produced by a

single producer per year shall be 428,400 kilograms including any over

production penalties.

(

c) A processor who is also a producer shall be limited to a maximum of

30,000 bird units per production cycle or 428,400 kilograms per production

year.

(4) The maximum allowable quota as expressed in bird units (30,000 per production

cycle) or in annual live kilograms (428,400 live kilograms) may be increased by

the Board providing that

(

a) all other allottees and producers registered with the Board for production

pursuant to Regulations [Sections] 13 and 14 have received consideration by

the Board for quota and production; and

(

b) all other registered producers who have less than the maximum allowable

quota have received consideration by the Board for additional quota and

production.

(5) (

a) Despite any provision of these regulations to the contrary, no quota or

licensed production shall be allotted to a producer or applicant unless that

producer or applicant has satisfied the Board that the proposed facilities

comply with the requirements for minimum floor space required to

adequately house the total number of bird units per flock cycle permitted by

the quota applied for.

(

b) Minimum floor space required in the case of

(

i) broiler weight class birds is .13935 square meter [metre] per bird,

(ii) hen weight class birds is .2323 square meter [metre] per bird, and

(iii) tom weight class birds is .3716 square meter [metre] per bird.

Quota transfers

3 (1) (

a) Any producer wishing to transfer quota shall make written application

therefor to the Board setting out the full particulars of the proposed transfer

and the transferee shall join in the application.

(

b) All quota transfers shall be subject to the discretion of the Board.

(

c) No transfer of quota shall be approved by the Board unless it is shown to

the satisfaction of the Board by the applicant for transfer

(

i) that the land and buildings used to produce that quota are being sold

to the intended transferee coincident with the proposed transfer, or

(ii) that the land and buildings used to produce that quota are not

adequate or suitable for the continued production of turkeys.

(

d) No transfer of quota shall be approved by the Board if it is deemed by the

Board that the transferee is or has been within the previous five years of the

date of the application for transfer of quota

(

i) a spouse of the producer,

(ii) a partner of the producer,

(iii) a partnership in which the producer is a partner,

(iv) a corporation in which the producer owns shares or any other interest,

(

v) where the producer is a corporation, an owner of shares or any other

interest,

(vi) a trustee for the producer, except for a trustee appointed pursuant to

the Bankruptcy Act (Canada) or a trustee appointed pursuant to the

Probate Act (Nova Scotia).

(2) Upon an application for transfer of a quota by a producer and a transferee, or at

such time or times that the Board may require, the transferee shall deliver to the

Board, a sworn affidavit which shall include the following information:

(

a) the actual ownership of land and buildings related to the production facility,

and of any lease agreements in respect thereof, upon and in which

production relating to the quota is intended to take place;

(

b) the names of all owners, co-owners, shareholders, partners, and interested

parties involved in that facility together with a list of the shareholders in any

corporation, excluding publicly traded corporations, involved or intended to

be involved directly or indirectly, immediately prior to and following an

approved transfer;

(

c) where the transferee is a body corporate excluding publicly traded

corporations, a list of all shareholders of that body corporate who are

directly involved in processing, hatchery, or feed manufacturing or

distribution in the poultry industry, and the percentage of interest of each

shareholder thereof;

(

d) all information relating to the availability of buildings and facility for the

production of the quota; and

(

e) such other information as the Board may direct.

(3) If representations of the producer or the transferee to the Board in the application

for transfer of a quota allotment are shown to be incorrect, misleading, or false, or

where the parties to the transfer have violated these regulations, or where, in the

opinion of the Board, the intent of these regulations has been circumvented, the

Board may revoke the transfer to the transferee and cancel the quota allotment and

if the quota allotment is so cancelled by the Board, it shall form a part of the

unallocated quota of the Board.

(4) No application for transfer of a quota allotment shall be considered by the Board

unless the application is accompanied by a completed Quota Transfer Application

Form in the form approved by the Board.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision in these regulations, no transfer shall be

approved unless the applicant producer (transferor) has held the quota allotment for

at least five years prior to the application for transfer.

(6) No application to transfer less than 5,000 bird units per production cycle shall be

considered by the Board unless the quota to be transferred is the transferor’s entire

quota.

(7) Any producer who is the transferor of quota shall not be eligible for any increase in

quota or allotment of quota in excess of base quota.

Retention of quota

(1) The Board may cancel the quota allocated to any producer, subject to subsection

(2), where, in the opinion of the Board

(

a) the producer fails to produce and market turkeys in a volume consistent

with the quota allocated to the producer or marketing licences issued to the

producer;

(

b) the producer fails to submit to the Board the proper reports with respect to

the producer’s production or marketings, as provided for in the Plan or these

regulations;

(

c) a producer remains out of production for up to two consecutive production

cycles; or

(

d) a producer violates any provision of the Plan or any regulations of the

Board.

(2) A producer may discontinue production for a specified marketing period where the

producer has received the written approval of the Board to so discontinue.

Allotted quota classification by bird type category

5 Allotted quota and marketing licences issued for different classes of turkeys, as defined

in these regulations, shall not be interchangeable and inter-class transfers of allotted

quota or marketing licences shall not be permitted.

Quota value

6 To facilitate the entry of new producers into the turkey industry, the Board declares that

all allotted quotas and licences issued by the Board shall have no monetary value or

exchange value whatsoever.

Allotted quota for public research

7 Public research institutions located and operated in Nova Scotia by the federal

government, Provincial government or other public body shall be a special case under

these regulations and shall apply to the Board, in writing, to obtain from the Board a

licence for each crop of turkeys and shall pay to the Board upon completion of the

slaughter of the crop of turkey the same licence fees as are required of producers.

Allotment of quota in excess of base quota

(1) Allotment of quota in excess of base quota may be allotted by the Board in

accordance with the following criteria:

(

a) existing quota holders shall be given first consideration in the allotment of

any quota available in excess of base quota, subject however, to

Regulations [Sections] 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14, and where the existing producer

has, in the opinion of the Board, adequate and sufficient registered

production capacity required to produce the additional quota;

(

b) where allotment of quota in excess of base quota has been deemed by the

Board to be necessary or advisable, a minimum of 5% of the available

excess quota shall be set aside and placed by the Board into a New Turkey

Producer Quota Bank account for allotment from time to time in the

discretion of the Board to new producers;

(

c) the Board may, at such time it considers appropriate to avoid removing

quota from actual production, issue temporary no quota rights special

licences to producers in accordance with the amount of production available

in the New Turkey Producer Quota Bank. A “no quota rights” special

licence issued to a producer will terminate without notice to the producer at

the end of the control period for which the no quota rights licence was

issued,

(

i) first to existing producers who have not reached their maximum

quota limit as defined in subsections (3) and (4) of

Regulation [Section] 2, and then

(ii) to other existing producers who have quota;

(

d) the New Turkey Producer Quota Bank bird units held by the Board may be

allotted at any time to a new producer. The total bird units held by the

Board in this account may not exceed the equivalent of 15,000 bird units,

and any bird units held in the New Turkey Producer Quota Bank must be

allocated to a new producer within a period not to exceed 12 months; and

(

e) every new producer shall be selected from the New Grower Waiting List

established by the Board on October 21, 1986, and

(

i) no new producer shall be eligible for any additional allocation or

licence of any kind for a period of three years, and future eligibility to

receive additional allotment or licence or licence transfer is at the

sole discretion of the Board, and

(ii) every new producer is subject to classification.

Marketing licences

(1) No producer shall market turkeys in Nova Scotia or elsewhere without a valid

marketing licence issued by the Board.

(2) Marketing licences may, in whole or in part, be transferred subject to the approval

of the Board, provided the Board has received, prior to the transfer, a written

application upon its Licence Transfer Application Form in the form approved by

the Board.

(3) Licence transfer applications must be submitted and approved by the Board prior

to the on-farm placement of poults intended for marketing under that licence.

(4) Marketing licences may be issued by the Board for each marketing period as

defined by the Board, in any control period, to each holder of allocated quota, or

others who qualify under these regulations and who shall be marketing turkeys

within the marketing period.

Exemptions from application of regulations

10 These regulations shall not apply to any producer who markets less than 25 turkeys in

any control period.

Producer marketing levy

11 (1) (

a) All producers marketing turkeys within the Province of Nova Scotia shall

pay a levy to the Board.

(

b) All levies collected by a processor on behalf of a producer shall be

submitted by the processor to the Board not later than ten days following the

month in which the levies were deducted from payments due to the

producer and the effective date of a marketing levy shall be that date upon

which turkeys are delivered by a producer for slaughter.

(

c) In the event that a processor fails to deduct a levy on behalf of a producer

the levy shall be due and payable by that specific producer to the Board.

(

d) In the event that a processor fails to remit a levy collected on behalf of a

producer then the responsibility of the payment and recovery of that levy

shall revert back to the producer for payment to the Board.

(2) Processors must register and be licensed by the Board and each processor shall

deduct all levies determined by the Board before making any financial settlement

with any producer marketing turkeys through that processor.

(3) (

a) A producer marketing levy is hereby payable to the Board by the producer

on all turkeys marketed by the producer to a processor within the Province

of Nova Scotia at the rate of $0.0675 per live kilogram of turkey slaughtered

and for which payment is due to the producer.

(

b) With respect to turkeys which the producer does not market through a

processor or processing plant, the marketing levy payable to the Board shall

be either,

(

i) three cents per live kilogram, or

(ii) in accordance with the following scale:

Live Weight in Kilograms

Marketing Levy Payable

0.0 to 6.17

18¢ per live bird

6.17 to 9.76

23¢ per live bird

9.76 to 12.05

30¢ per live bird

12.05 and over

36¢ per live bird

(iii) the levy shall be paid directly by the producer to the Board within ten

days after the completion of the marketing of the birds.

(4) Provided always that levies made to the producers are subject to change by the

Board at any time at the Board’s discretion, and upon written notification by the

Board of that change to the producer, the producer shall remit the levies at the new

rates either through the processor or directly to the Board.

Over production penalties

(1) Every producer that produces quantities in excess of those for which the producer

is licensed, or for which the producer has been allotted quota, shall pay to the

Board an over production penalty of up to 22 cents per kilogram live weight which

exceeds the weight for which the producer has been licensed or allotted quota.

(2) A producer shall be considered to have exceeded the producer’s allotted quota or

licence when the producer’s total production and marketings for all the marketing

periods ending at the end of the control period exceed the total licence quantities

for that control period.

(3) Any producer who produces in excess of the producer’s allocated quota or licence

may, at the discretion of the Board, be subject to reduction of quota by an amount

equal to the excess production, and the reduction shall be applied to the producer

in the control period immediately following the control period in which the over

production took place.

(4) Failure by a producer to pay over production penalties to the Board after written

notice to do so shall constitute cause for cancellation by the Board, in its discretion,

of any existing quotas held by that producer.

Registration of production facilities

(1) Every producer in the Province of Nova Scotia shall register with the Board all of

that producer’s existing facilities to be used for the production of turkeys by filing

with the Board a completed written Registration of Producer Facilities in the form

approved by the Board.

(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the fact of registration of such facilities with the

Board does not in itself entitle the registrant the right to produce turkeys and the

registration form herein established is to assist the Board in its deliberations as to

whether it shall allot to such registered producer any quota that becomes available

for allotment and in any event such consideration shall be subject to

Regulations [Sections] 2, 5, 8, and 14.

(3) Any producer who knowingly provides false information to the Board pertaining to

the ownership of, or to the size or use of any production facility in which the

producer is producing or is intending to produce turkeys, shall, at the option of the

Board, render the producer liable for cancellation of any allotted quota held by that

producer.

Registration for quota

(1) Each person making application for quota shall file with the Board a completed

written Application for Turkey Quota in the form approved by the Board.

(2) Any application for quota submitted to the Board shall be considered by the Board

in its determinations as to whether quota shall be allotted to the applicant and, in

any event, the Board shall give due consideration in its deliberations to

Regulations [Sections] 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13.

Registered processors’ licences

(1) Each processor engaged in the slaughter or marketing of turkeys shall be registered

as a processor with the Board.

(2) (

a) No person shall commence or carry on the business of processing turkeys

except as previously authorized by licence issued by the Board.

(

b) No processing licence shall be issued by the Board in the absence of a

written application by the proposed processor being submitted to the Board.

(3) (

a) All licences issued by the Board to a processor shall expire on the 31st day

of December following the issuance of the licence.

(

b) No fee shall be chargeable to a person making application for or being

granted a processor’s licence.

(4) (

a) The Board may refuse to grant a licence to an applicant which, in the

opinion of the Board, is not qualified by experience, financial responsibility,

or available facility and equipment to properly engage in the processing

business.

(

b) The Council may suspend or revoke or refuse to renew a licence to a

processor for failure to observe, perform, or carry out the provisions of the

Natural Products Act, these regulations, the Plan, or any order or direction

of the Natural Products Marketing Council of Nova Scotia, or of the Board.

Producer Settlement Reports

(1) Each processor shall file with the Board a Producer Settlement Report which shall

include details of all purchases and sales transactions between the processor and

each of the producers with whom the processor deals in any control period and the

Producer Settlement Report shall be filed with the Board within ten days of the

completion of each transaction.

(2) A producer who operates on a cash basis shall forward to the Board a Producer

Settlement Report within ten days of the completion of the marketing of each flock

of turkeys.

Hatchery information

17 (1) (

a) All hatcheries supplying turkey poults to producers shall submit to the

Board on or before the 10th day of each and every month a registration

summary setting out the number of poults placed with each producer

dealing with that hatchery during the previous calendar month.

(

b) All hatcheries supplying poults to producers shall report the total number of

poults shipped to each individual producer including any and all poults for

which the producer has not been invoiced by the hatchery at the time of

reporting.

(2) Any person who produces, purchases, receives, sells, grows, or deals with poults,

the existence of which has not been reported to the Board shall be liable to such

penalties as have been established under the Natural Products Act of Nova Scotia,

the Plan or the regulations of the Board.

(3) Poults placed with or invoiced to a producer shall not be grown, transferred or

credited to any other producer or person without the prior written permission of the

Board.

Transfer of quota by processors who are also producers

(1) Despite the provisions of any other regulation [Section], this regulation [Section]

applies solely to processors who are also producers who wish to transfer base quota

and for the purpose of this regulation, processors who are also producers are

defined as A.C.A. Co-operative Limited and Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and include

any subsequent business engaged in the industry of processing turkey for the

consumer market.

(2) Processors who are also producers who wish to transfer all or part of their base

quota may apply to the Board in writing in such form as the Board may prescribe

from time to time.

(3) Upon receipt of an application as prescribed in subsection (2), the Board shall

consider the application and if the Board requires further information, the Board

may require the applicant or proposed transferee of the base quota to appear before

the Board and make representations to the Board concerning the proposed transfer

of base quota.

(4) After consideration of the application, the Board may approve, in whole or in part,

or disapprove of the application as the Board considers appropriate having regard

to all the circumstances of the application, and without restricting the generality of

the foregoing, the Board shall, in considering the application, have regard to the

following factors:

(

a) the impact of the proposed transfer on the overall marketing scheme and

strategy of the Board at the time of the application;

(

b) the position of the proposed transferees of the base quota on the Board’s

New Grower Waiting List at the time of the application;

(

c) the relationship, if any, between the applicant and the proposed transferees

of the base quota at the time of the application;

(

d) whether the proposed transferees of the base quota are existing producers

and the impact the proposed transfer will have on the quota held by the

existing producers at the time of the application;

(

e) whether the proposed transfer of base quota is with or without facilities; and

(

f) any other factor that the Board deems appropriate.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Turkey Farmers of Nova Scotia Regulations

N.S. Reg.

266/1992

Natural Products Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Turkey Farmers of Nova Scotia Regulations made

under the Natural Products Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

266/1992

Dec 8, 1992

date approved

Dec 25, 1992

107/1996

Jun

18, 1996

date

approved

July

5, 1996

123/2010

Aug 1,

date

specified

Aug

13, 2010

71/2016

May 1,

date

specified

Apr

29, 2016

61/2017

Apr

30, 2017

date

specified

Apr

14, 2017

216/2018

Jan 1,

date

specified

Dec

21, 2018

74/2025

Apr

27, 2025

date

specified

Apr

18, 2025

The following regulations are not yet in force and are

not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

1(e) ..................................................

am. 123/2010

1( ja ) .................................................

ad. 107/1996

3(4) ..................................................

am. 123/2010

9(2) ..................................................

am. 123/2010

11(3)(a) ...........................................

am. 71/2016, 61/2017, 216/2018, 74/2025

12(3)-(4) ..........................................

am. 123/2010

13(1) ................................................

am. 123/2010

13(3) ................................................

am. 123/2010

14(1) ................................................

am. 123/2010

15(4)(b) ...........................................

am. 123/2010

Appendices A(1)- A( 3) ....................

rep. 123/2010

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections:

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded:

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.