Sonja Laurendeau

Sonja Laurendeau obtained her DMV with a specialization in industrial medicine (swine and poultry) from the Université de Montréal in 1996. She has been employed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for 24 years. From 2015 to 2023, Sonja was a National Operations Veterinary Specialist in Operational Guidance and Expertise -Traceability and Terrestrial Animal Disease Control. Her role was to contribute to emergency preparedness within the CFIA and with various partners (eg federal, provincial, industry representatives) in the event of the introduction into Canada of highly contagious animal diseases with significant economic impacts. Dr Laurendeau has held a variety of roles in the Operations and Planning sections at several emergency operations centers (EOCs) for animal health incidents in Canada: SK ESB 2003, BC NAI 2004, BC NAI 2005, BC NAI 2009, AB H1N1 2009, BC NAI 2014, ON NAI 2015, ON NAI 2016, HPAI 2022. Since June 2023, Sonja is the acting National Veterinary Program Specialist for Foot-and-Mouth Disease.