Limousin in Canada
By Tessa Verbeek, Canadian Limousin Association General Manager
The first Limousin imported to
Canada was Prince Pompadour
in November of 1968, with
semen made available in July
of 1969. After the importation
of Prince Pompadour to
Canada, another group of
eleven Limousin bulls and
five heifers were imported
in April of 1969. Many more
importations followed, 91 sires
and 544 females up to and
including 1974. 19 European
breeds, totaling 4,790 head
22 | JUNE/JULY 2018
were imported into Canada
between April 1965 and
September 1974. The popularity
of the Limousin breed spread
quickly when performance
testing proved their value to the
industry as the most eļ¬cient
over all French breeds. There
was emphasis on upgrading
with Limousin, starting with the
foundation (half-blood) female.
In July 1969, a meeting took
place in Calgary, Alberta and
the decision was made to
form the Canadian Limousin
Association (CLA) under the
Animal Pedigree Act. The
inaugural meeting of the CLA
was held in March 1970 and by
June 1970 it was reported that
there were 126 CLA members.
By the end of 1974 there
were 1,107 head of fullblood
Limousin cattle in Canada, 440
of which were Canadian-born.
Membership in the CLA was
up to 2,475. At the conclusion