Canadian Summit on Food Regulation 2026

Since my graduation from the University of Manitoba in Food Science and Microbiology, over the past 25plus years I have worked in successive roles within the Canadian Food Industry (FSQA, manufacturing, sanitation, retail food and foodservice). I joined Maple Leaf Foods (MLF) in Sept. 2006 in a Corporate Food Safety and Quality role, and only 18 months afterwards I was one of the many MLF personnel stationed on ground-zero at a plant which was the centre of a national Canadian Listeria recall and illness outbreak. I was on the front line working with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) local and regional staff assigned to the crisis. Looking back, this became the pivot of my regulatory career. In my current role as Director – Regulatory Management I support the MLF teams with regulatory services in particular interpretation and analysis which leads to day to day & strategic solutions. In addition, I work with regional and national CFIA personnel to enable commercial and consistent decision making (with enforcement discretion when applicable). Via MLF industry association membership and directly with CFIA officials, I share industry knowledge / best practices and escalate / advocate issues to solve industry’s common objectives. I represent MLF on various industry committees / associations: Canadian Meat Council (CMC), Import-Export Canada (IEC), Plant Based Foods Canada (PBFC) and strategic working groups such as AAFC’s Agile Regulatory Table (ART), Food and Beverage Canada’s (FBC) Labour Taskforce and Canadian Manufacturers Exporters (CME) CEPA Working Group.