Question Period Note: Ending cosmetic testing on animals in Canada

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• Non-governmental organizations, members of Parliament and concerned Canadians have pressed Health Canada to ban cosmetic animal testing. Since April 2021, the Department has received approximately 69,000 correspondence items about banning cosmetic animal testing in Canada.
• Our Government recognizes that Canadians are concerned about the wellbeing of animals and supports the elimination of cosmetic animal testing.
• Health Canada does not require animal testing to demonstrate the safety of cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients under the Food and Drugs Act.
• Our Government has committed to introduce legislation to end testing on animals.

IF PRESSED ON ...
• Our Government will continue to explore alternatives and take steps to further reduce reliance on animal testing, while ensuring that non-animal approaches provide equivalent or better protection to the health of Canadians.

Non-governmental organizations, members of Parliament and concerned Canadians have pressed Health Canada to ban cosmetic animal testing. Health Canada supports the elimination of cosmetic animal testing. Since April 2021, the Department has received approximately 69,000 correspondence items about banning cosmetic animal testing in Canada.

The European Union banned the sale of cosmetic products and ingredients that have been tested on animals in March 2013.

In 2017, as part of a campaign by animal rights organizations, a Senate Public Bill (cruelty-free cosmetics) was introduced in Canada to propose amendments to the Food and Drugs Act that would ban cosmetic testing on animals. In June 2019, the Government of Canada announced its support for the bill, provided that key amendments were made. With the dissolution of 42nd Parliament, the bill died on the Order Paper.

There have been some key advances in alternative testing methods that support reducing our reliance on animal testing. In April 2021, the Government re-affirmed its commitment to reduce reliance on animal testing with the introduction of a bill proposing to strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The bill included an aspirational statement in the preamble to reduce, refine or replace the use of vertebrate animals in the testing and assessment of substances. The bill had been introduced at first reading when the 43rd Parliament was dissolved on August 15, 2021, and died on the order paper.

On February 9, 2022, the Government introduced Bill S-5, Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act. Bill S-5 would amend the preamble of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 to recognize the need to reduce reliance on animal testing when assessing the risks that chemical substances may pose to human health and other species. This proposed amendment would encourage the promotion, development, and timely use of alternative methods and strategies (e.g., computer-based models, testing on cell cultures). This commitment is in line with international efforts to reduce, refine or replace vertebrate animal testing, and contributes to and capitalizes on advances in technology. On June 22, 2022, the Senate adopted amendments to 24 Clauses within Bill S-5, after the Bill was studied by the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment. This included several amendments building on the preamble statement, focusing on replacing, before refining or reducing the use of animal toxicity testing. Bill S-5 is expected to be debated in the House of Commons in fall 2022, and additional amendments on animal testing could be proposed during committee stage, as early as October 2022.

The Minister of Health’s December 2021 mandate letter included a commitment to introduce legislation to end testing on animals.

As a first step towards this commitment, Health Canada is considering banning cosmetic testing on animals.

Cosmetic Animal Testing

Increasing concern for animal welfare has driven consumer demand for cruelty-free cosmetics and a global decline in cosmetic animal testing, with many alternatives either in use or in development.

To date, 41 countries have enacted measures to prohibit cosmetic animal testing (including all European Union countries, Australia, United Kingdom, and South Korea). In 2009, an estimated 99% of cosmetic safety assessments in the European Union and United States did not rely on animal testing. In 2017, Cosmetics Alliance Canada indicated that more than 99% of new cosmetics are developed without testing on animals. Animal testing for the small remaining portion of cosmetic products is generally linked to an ingredient also used in a product where animal testing is required (e.g., pharmaceuticals), or for export to a foreign country that requires animal testing to establish the safety of a product (e.g., China).

Regulation of Cosmetic Products Under the Food and Drugs Act

The Food and Drugs Act and its Cosmetic Regulations set out the health and safety requirements for cosmetics in Canada. Industry must ensure that products:

• are safe for their intended use; and
• meet mandatory labelling requirements (i.e., list of ingredients and directions for safe use).

Health Canada does not require animal testing to demonstrate the safety of cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients under the Food and Drugs Act; however, many ingredients found in other products tested on animals may also be used in cosmetics (e.g., a preservative used in a topical drug that was tested on animals to demonstrate its safety and efficacy may also be used in a cosmetic). Health Canada continues to accept such safety data derived from animal testing, when submitted by companies.

Animal testing is required under other regulatory frameworks within Health Canada’s purview (e.g., drugs, natural health products, consumer chemicals), as well as for assessing the environmental and human impacts of new chemicals entering Canadian commerce. While there have been some key advancements in the development and implementation of non-animal testing methods, science has not yet progressed to the point where alternative methods can completely replace animal testing, providing equivalent or better protection to the health of Canadians. There are several complex health endpoints relating to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and the way the body processes toxins that are lacking validated alternative methods to animal testing. The Department continues to support the development and use of alternatives to animal testing through the participation on national and international scientific committees.

• The Minister of Health’s mandate letter published in December 2021 includes a commitment to introduce legislation to end testing on animals. As a first step, Health Canada is working towards banning cosmetic testing on animals.
• Currently, Health Canada does not prohibit animal testing in cosmetics but it also does not require animal testing to demonstrate the safety of cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients under the Food and Drugs Act; however, ingredients found in other products tested on animals may also be used in cosmetics.
• As early as 2009, an estimated 99% of cosmetic safety assessments in the European Union and United States did not rely on animal testing. To date, 41 countries have enacted measures to prohibit cosmetic animal testing (including all European Union countries, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Korea).