Annual update on Thunder Bay food strategy presented to council

An annual update on Thunder Bay's food strategy has been presented to city council.

Last night, councillors heard details about the strategy which talked about growing food and gardening, but most on council wanted to talk about chickens.

Kendal Donahue, the city's food strategy coordinator, said she receives many calls on why the city does not allow backyard chickens.

She said the city is doing a study to learn what other municipalities do.

"For instance, health unit and city regulations around animal husbandry, and to get a point and comparison on what other municipalities allow in terms of number of birds, requirements around lot size [and] licenses," she said.

Donahue said the food strategy will soon host a public consultation on backyard chickens.

Councillor Linda Rydholm asked about the city's planning department looking at a bylaw to regulate backyard chickens.

Administration said as of now, creating a chicken by-law is not a priority.