Find a form

Download means to save the file to your computing device for retrieval with software installed on your device.

1. Right click or Control+Click (Mac users) on the download link and choose Save link as or Download Linked File as (Mac users) in a folder that you will easily find on your computer.
2. Launch Adobe Reader.
3. Browse to the folder where you saved the file, and open it from within Adobe Reader. You can now fill and save your PDF form.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) fillable PDF forms have been tested for compatibility with Adobe Reader 10 and higher and may not be fully supported in other PDF viewers and on some mobile devices.

Also, note that many tablets/phones will not open these forms even with Adobe Reader. If you require an alternative version, please contact us.

You may be able to enable the automatic download of PDF files to your computer.

Select your preferred browser from the list below:

1. Copy the following text: chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments
2. Paste the copied text into the address bar (located at the top of your browser) and press the Enter key on your keyboard
3. On the right side of the browser enable/ turn on Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome

Note: the toggle will turn blue when it is turned on.

1. Copy the following text: about:preferences#general
2. Paste the copied text into the address bar (located at the top of your browser) and press the Enter key on your keyboard
3. Scroll down to the Applications section
4. Locate and select Portable Document Format (PDF) under Content Type
5. Using the drop-down menu in the Action column, change the Action to Save File

1. Highlight and copy the following text: edge://settings/content/pdfDocuments
2. Paste the copied text into the address bar (located at the top of your browser below your tabs) and press the Enter key on your keyboard
3. On the right side of the browser enable/turn on Always Download PDF files

Note: the toggle will turn blue when it is turned on.

Safari will automatically download a PDF form if you click on the download link.

To open your downloaded application form:

1. Ensure that you have installed Adobe Reader
2. Click the Show Downloads button near the top right corner of the browser
3. Double-click the downloaded PDF file in the downloads list to open it.

Note: to find out where a downloaded item is located on your Mac, click the magnifying glass next to the filename in the downloads list

Tips for completing dynamic (PDF-XFA) forms

Printing PDF forms:

Many forms have a print button included. There may be more than 1 print button in some forms. Each of the print buttons is configured to print a specific page or range of pages. Using other commands to reach the print function is not recommended. If you have clicked a configured print button, do not alter the "Pages to Print" information.

When the Print Dialog box appears, you should see a section titled Page Sizing and Handling. We recommend that you select "Actual size" and ensure the checkbox for "Choose paper source by PDF page size" is selected. This allows the software to print the pages as they are designed to be printed.

Completing dynamic (PDF-XFA) forms:

In Adobe Reader you should see a coloured information bar directly above the form. On the coloured bar, there is a button labelled "Highlight Existing Fields". It is highly recommended that you press the button so that fields are highlighted. This will enable you to easily see where the data portion of fields is located. It will also add a coloured outline to mandatory fields.

When working through a form, we recommend that you tab from 1 field to the next to have the fullest benefit of the built-in functionality.

Dates – most date fields will have a date picker calendar associated to the field which is accessed from the drop down arrow or by pressing the keyboard arrow keys. To quickly choose dates that are not in the current calendar, you may click the month and year headings.

You may also type the date into date fields; you do not need to type the dashes between the date components. Date fields in most forms are formatted to YYYY-MM-DD.

Many forms include helpful advice in "hover help". In order to view the help, you must hover your mouse over the field until it displays. It will not display very long, so you may need to move your mouse away from the field and then hover again to redisplay the help. If the help is complex, it will also be displayed in text format within the form.

Drop down lists – where possible we have developed our lists in alphabetical order and uppercase letters. To access the list begin typing in uppercase letters. You may also access the list with the keyboard arrow keys.

How to sign a form digitally

Note: Not all Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) forms accept digital signatures at this time.

Follow these steps:

1. install Adobe Reader 10 or higher to your device
2. download and save the form you wish to complete to your device
3. create a Digital ID
4. sign the form using a Digital ID

Create a Digital ID

1. open the PDF form you wish to sign and click the Signature box
2. select Configure Digital ID or Configure New Digital ID
3. select Create a new Digital ID as the type of Digital ID and click Continue
4. select Save to file as the destination of the Digital ID and click Continue
5. enter your identity information and click Continue
   • fill in your name and email address
   • from the Key Algorithm menu, choose an option (the 2048-bit RSA option offers more security than 1024-bit RSA, but 1024-bit RSA is more universally compatible)
   • from the Use Digital ID For menu, choose whether you want to use the Digital ID for signatures, data encryption, or both
6. click Browse to select where you would like to save the Digital ID on your device or use the default location as shown in the File Name field
   • remember where you saved the Digital ID so that you can copy it or back it up
7. enter and confirm a password to protect your Digital ID and click Save
   • you will need this password when you sign a document using your Digital ID

Sign a form using a Digital ID

1. open the PDF form you wish to sign and click the Signature box
2. choose the Digital ID that you want to use for signing and click Continue
3. enter the password for your Digital ID and click Sign
4. save the completed form to your device
   • remember where you saved the form so you can access it later

Emailing PDF forms

Some forms contain a button which permits you to send the form by email. The form is sent using whatever email service or software you have configured on your computer. If you are using a web mail service (vs. email client software) and have not configured your email service to function with "mail to" links, the button may not function. You may save your file, and send the file as an attachment using whatever functionality your computer configuration and email provider supplies.

Note: do not email forms which contain credit card information.