Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative

What Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative does

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC / Réseau canadien pour la santé de la faune) is a non-profit cooperative founded in 1992 and headquartered at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. It operates a national network of five regional centres (Atlantic at UPEI, Quebec at Université de Montréal, Ontario/Nunavut at University of Guelph, Alberta at University of Calgary, and British Columbia at the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford) plus a national office, providing wildlife disease surveillance, diagnostic services, research, and policy support to federal agencies (Environment and Climate Change Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Parks Canada), all provincial and territorial governments, and the five host veterinary colleges. The cooperative is also a designated OIE Collaborating Centre, giving it an international capacity-building role in wildlife health.

The organization's core technology assets are the Wildlife Health Information Platform (WHIP), a custom-built centralized database with standardized cause-of-death coding maintained by wildlife health and IT professionals, and the Online Wildlife Reporting and Submission Tool (cwhc.wildlifesubmissions.org) which routes public and partner reports to the appropriate regional office. Supporting outputs include disease-specific fact sheets, technical manuals and guides, decontamination protocols (e.g., White-nose Syndrome, amphibian/reptile), interactive surveillance maps, testing results dashboards, case definitions co-developed with USGS, wildlife health notes, and infographics, all delivered bilingually in English and French.

CWHC is funded through institutional cooperative partnerships rather than commercial transactions: core support comes from Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Directors (since 1992), with the Max Bell Foundation providing initial capital and additional non-government sponsorship from the Canadian Wildlife Federation. The organization has historically led national surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease (1997-2012, ~45,000 specimens tested), West Nile Virus in birds (2001-2012), and more recently SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife including the identification of unique white-tailed deer lineages. There is no public pricing for services; engagement occurs through institutional relationships and an OIE-level international mandate.

Name

Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative

Legal name

Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative

Website

https://cwhc-rcsf.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative is a non-profit cooperative founded in 1992 that operates a national network of six offices across Canada, providing wildlife disease surveillance, diagnostic services, and research to federal, provincial, and territorial government agencies, in partnership with Canada's five veterinary colleges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Health Surveillance and Diagnostic Services

NAICS

Veterinary Services (54194), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Support Activities for Animal Production (115210)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Veterinary Public Health & One Health Programs (HLAMAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wildlife Health & Conservation Disease Management (HLAMAJAM), Disease Surveillance, Sampling & Outbreak Response (Monitoring, Reporting, Containment) (AFACALAD)

Keywords

• Wildlife disease surveillance
• Veterinary diagnostic services
• Zoonotic disease monitoring
• Wildlife health research
• One Health coordination

Headquarters

HQ city

Saskatoon

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Government and Institutional Funding: CWHC operates as a cooperative funded through partnerships with government agencies at federal, provincial, and territorial levels, along with support from veterinary colleges and non-governmental organizations. The partnership was established in 1992 with leadership from Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Directors, with additional financial assistance from the Max Bell Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative provides wildlife health surveillance, diagnostic services, and applied research through a network of five regional centers and one national office linked to Canada's five veterinary colleges. Core service activities include mortality event investigation, post-mortem examination, disease testing (e.g., Chronic Wasting Disease, West Nile Virus, Avian Influenza, Rabies, SARS-CoV-2), risk assessment, knowledge mobilization, and policy advice to government and institutional partners. The organization is supported by a proprietary national wildlife health database (WHIP) and an online public reporting tool.

Product overview

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative operates as a national wildlife disease surveillance and response network rather than a single software product. Its core offerings consist of the Online Wildlife Reporting and Submission Tool for public case reporting, the WHIP (Wildlife Health Information Platform) database for centralized wildlife health data management, and an extensive portfolio of educational resources including Disease-Specific Fact Sheets, Technical Manuals and Guides, Decontamination Protocols, Disease Surveillance Maps, Testing Results Dashboards, Case Definitions for Wildlife Diseases, Wildlife Health Notes, and Infographics. The WHIP database serves as the foundational data infrastructure, while the reporting tool provides user-facing access for submitting wildlife health incidents. Regional centers across Canada (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario/Nunavut, Western/Northern, Alberta, and British Columbia) support diagnostic services and surveillance activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Wildlife Reporting and Submission Tool Web-based platform allowing the public and partners to report sick or dead wildlife and submit cases for diagnostic analysis; reports are automatically directed to the relevant regional office.
• WHIP (Wildlife Health Information Platform) Custom-built national database recording mortality events, environmental circumstances, locations, animal information, testing and disease outcomes, with comprehensive cause-of-death coding, used by CWHC diagnosticians, researchers, and institutional partners.
• Wildlife Disease Fact Sheets and Educational Publications

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 45,000 heads tested for Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance (1997-2012)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Environment and Climate Change CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992Original partner established in 1992 providing leadership and core funding for the CWHC cooperative. Supports the National Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program.
• Public Health Agency of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal sponsor supporting CWHC programs for One Health approach linking wildlife health to public health outcomes.
• Parks CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal partner providing wildlife health oversight and management for 42 national parks across Canada.
• Canadian Food Inspection AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal agency partner supporting wildlife disease surveillance related to agriculture and food safety.
• All Provincial and Territorial GovernmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFish & Wildlife, Environment, Agriculture and Health ministries from all provinces and territories support CWHC programs.
• University of Saskatchewan (Western College of Veterinary Medicine)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution for CWHC National Office and one of five Canadian veterinary colleges in the CWHC network.
• University of Guelph (Ontario Veterinary College)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five Canadian veterinary colleges participating in the CWHC cooperative network.
• Université de MontréalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five Canadian veterinary colleges participating in the CWHC cooperative network.
• University of Prince Edward Island (Atlantic Veterinary College)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five Canadian veterinary colleges participating in the CWHC cooperative network, hosting the Atlantic regional center.
• University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five Canadian veterinary colleges participating in the CWHC cooperative network.
• Canadian Wildlife FederationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-government sponsor supporting CWHC programs and wildlife health education.
• World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWHC serves as an OIE Collaborating Centre, building international wildlife health capacity and reporting disease occurrences.
• USGS National Wildlife Health CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner collaborating on wildlife health issues including case definitions and disease surveillance.
• PrioNet CanadaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner supporting CWHC research on Chronic Wasting Disease factors affecting spread.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• USGS National Wildlife Health Center: The US federal wildlife health reference laboratory operated by the US Geological Survey. Directly comparable as the analogous national wildlife disease surveillance, diagnostics, and research organization south of the border, and an active collaborator of CWHC on case definitions and surveillance methods.
• Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS): University of Georgia-based cooperative that has provided wildlife disease surveillance, diagnostics, and research to member state agencies since 1957. Direct functional peer operating a similar university-based, multi-state cooperative model for wildlife health surveillance across the southeastern US.
• UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center: University-based wildlife health research and service center providing diagnostics and training for the western US. Comparable in operating model (university-hosted wildlife health center providing diagnostics, research, and surveillance capacity) and intersects with CWHC's mandate.
• Wildlife Health Australia: Australia's national wildlife health information network and OIE Collaborating Centre. Directly comparable as a sister national cooperative providing wildlife health surveillance, coordination, and One Health capacity across Australia.

Emerging players

• Canadian Wildlife Federation: National Canadian conservation organization and current CWHC partner for wildlife health education. Comparable as a national NGO working on Canadian wildlife conservation, though focused more on advocacy and habitat than clinical disease surveillance.
• EcoHealth Alliance: International nonprofit focused on emerging zoonotic disease and pandemic prediction through wildlife surveillance research. Comparable in mission overlap around wildlife disease surveillance and One Health, though focused on research rather than ongoing national diagnostics.

Broad incumbents

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Federal Canadian agency responsible for animal disease surveillance relating to agriculture and food safety, and a current CWHC core partner. Adjacent incumbent that could in theory internalize CWHC's wildlife-livestock interface work, making it both a partner and a potential structural risk.
• Wildlife Conservation Society: Large international conservation organization that operates zoos, field programs, and wildlife health programs globally (including through the Bronx Zoo). Broader incumbent in wildlife conservation with an internal wildlife health capacity that overlaps with CWHC's mandate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CWHCRCSF

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative