After years of advocacy by Animal Justice and partner organizations, Canada has released a bold national Strategy to replace, reduce, or refine vertebrate animal testing under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, marking a major milestone for animal welfare and scientific progress. Every year, about 150,000 animals are used to test the safety of chemicals in Canadian laboratories, with more than 90,000 in some years enduring Category E tests, the most severe level of harm that causes death, severe pain, and extreme distress through burns, trauma on unanesthetized animals, or forced ingestion of deadly substances. The new Strategy lays out a five part framework for integrating new approach methods like in vitro assays, AI models, and organ on a chip technologies that often outperform traditional animal methods by predicting outcomes more accurately, working faster, and costing less. Thousands of Canadians commented on the draft Strategy when it was released, showing strong national concern for animals used in research and a desire for swift action to adopt modern animal free science.
The governing Liberal Party pledged during the 2021 election to end toxicity testing on animals by 2035, but reaching this goal will require sustained leadership, targeted investment, and measurable benchmarks that the Strategy currently lacks. Canada’s national centre for non animal research methods was forced to close last year due to lack of public funding, even though countries like the EU, US, Brazil, Netherlands, and South Korea all fund their national centres for alternatives. Animal Justice advocates for reopening the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods with sustained public funding in Ottawa, which would drive research, foster collaboration, and make Canada a world leader in modern humane science. The new Strategy is cause for celebration and a vital first step, but a future without animal suffering in toxicity testing will require Canada to put its money where its mouth is and invest in the cruelty free science that will save 150,000 animals every year.
