Canada takes steps to ban toxicity testing on animals. What this means

Canada is taking steps to ban the testing of toxic chemicals on animals including, cats, dogs, mice and rabbits.

Toxicity testing sees labs test chemicals on animals to see if it causes harm before using them on humans. The proposed ban could see this process axed for cosmetic testing in Canada.

An animal rights advocate says such tests expose animals to much higher levels of chemicals than humans would be exposed to.

“We’re so pleased that Canada has finally committed to phasing this out and eventually banning it altogether,” Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy for Animal Justice Canada, told CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday.

Mitchell says more than 40 countries have banned some forms of testing on animals, and says Canada is “playing catch up.” The proposed amendments of the Food and Drugs Act, which Mitchell worked on, were tabled on March 28 in the government’s budget bill.

Under the changes, sellers must prove a cosmetic product is safe without testing that causes “pain, suffering, injury” to an animal. The ban is expected to cover products such as make-up, perfume, body lotion, hair-styling products, shaving foam and nail polish.

Products that meet the guidelines will not be sold in Canada.

“That brings us in line with places like the U.S. and the EU, which have already created these strong legal tools to end toxicity testing on animals,” she said.

One of the proposed changes requires the minister of health and the minister of the environment to incorporate non-animal testing methods.

“These non-animal methods are often more cost-effective, they’re quicker than they’re actually more predictive of human health outcomes and environmental outcomes,” Mitchell said.

Some alternatives to animal testing are computer modelling, or cell and tissue tests created by computer chips. Some of this work is being done at the University of Windsor, Mitchell said.

“It’s a really exciting time here in Canada for animal use and science,” she said.

To watch the full interview click the video at the top of this article.