Question Period Note: HUMANE USE OF PESTICIDES

• In the interest of seeking Canadians’ views and input on the humaneness of pesticides used to control predators, Health Canada published a consultation document entitled Humane Vertebrate Pest Control on December 20, 2018 for a 120-day consultation period ending April 18, 2019.
• Health Canada received over 4000 responses, many of which revealed a lack of awareness of federal and provincial roles and responsibilities with respect to pesticide regulation, wildlife management and animal welfare, and the high degree of restriction placed on the use of these products.
• On January 29, 2021, Health Canada published a consultation summary outlining the comments received, as well as an information note to better inform Canadians on the strict label conditions that must be followed, as well as the federal/provincial/territorial roles and responsibilities regarding pesticide regulation, wildlife management and animal welfare.

KEY MESSAGES:

• Our Government takes pesticide safety and the concerns of citizens very seriously.
• The use of pesticides to control large predators is highly restricted and limited to use by provincially authorized personnel in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These products are used as a last resort to protect endangered species, people living in remote communities, and livestock.
• All uses of sodium cyanide are scheduled for cancellation by the manufacturer in December 2021. Health or environmental concerns raised during consultations on the use of strychnine and Compound 1080 are being taken into consideration in the current re-evaluation of these two products, which was initiated in January 2021.

• In Canada, pesticides are regulated under the Pest Control Products Act administered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). Health Canada published a consultation document entitled Humane Vertebrate Pest Control on December 20, 2018 for a 120-day consultation period ending April 18, 2019.

• At this time, Health Canada will not take steps towards incorporating humaneness considerations into the pesticide risk assessment framework. There are currently no internationally recognized science-based parameters to evaluate the humaneness of pesticides, and no new information on this topic was brought forward through the consultation process.

• To address concerns raised by Canadians through this consultation, Health Canada published an information note in late January 2021 to improve awareness of federal and provincial/territorial roles and responsibilities with respect to wildlife management and animal welfare, improve awareness of predacide use restrictions and scenarios, as well as improve awareness of the legal requirements that must be followed when using such products, and the systems in place for reporting incidents (such as non-target animal deaths).

• In January 2021, Health Canada initiated a re-evaluation of strychnine and Compound 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) as a cluster, based on the similarity of the use pattern and toxicity profile. All uses of sodium cyanide will be discontinued by the manufacturer in December 2021 and will therefore not be included in the re-evaluation. Information submitted during the humaneness consultation period relevant to the re-evaluation (i.e., with respect to possible health or environmental risks) will be considered. This re-evaluation will also take into consideration information related to non-target animal incident reports.

• There is another ongoing write-in campaign to the Minister of Health regarding the use of predacides on large mammals. Health Canada is responding on behalf of the Minister to letters received with Canadian addresses.

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