CALGARY, Alberta, April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a shocking decision made on March 30th, Health Canada reversed its previous ban on the notoriously cruel poison strychnine, granting Alberta and Saskatchewan emergency use permits to kill ground squirrels until November 2027. In response, a coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups across the country is denouncing the reckless decision and calling on Health Canada to uphold the science-based strychnine ban.
Strychnine causes extreme suffering and death to any animal that ingests it, and its use has been strongly condemned by environmental and animal protection groups, as well as the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
Following years of scientific research and consultations with all concerned parties, Health Canada cancelled the registration of all rodenticidal strychnine products in 2020, phasing them out over three years. In 2024, Health Canada then cancelled the last remaining strychnine products used to kill animals such as coyotes. Health Canada made the decision to ban these products based on its conclusion that strychnine poses inherent, unacceptable environmental risks that cannot be mitigated.
The Emergency Use Permit followed pressure from the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with agricultural industry groups, and was cynically framed as a “Team Canada effort” by Health Canada. The temporary reinstatement of strychnine to kill Richardson’s ground squirrels in Alberta and Saskatchewan poses serious risks to non-target animals, including pets and species at risk. Strychnine baits are known to kill animals that naturally help regulate squirrel populations through predation, such as raptors, owls, coyotes, foxes, and badgers. Scientists have described it as “one of the worst ways to die on earth.”
“Two years ago, Health Canada acknowledged the weight of the evidence and discontinued strychnine use permanently, or so it was thought. Nothing about the poison has changed, nor will it. Strychnine remains an extremely toxic, non-selective chemical,” says Sadie Parr, founder of WeHowl.
“Health Canada’s reversal and authorization of the emergency use of rodenticidal strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan is deeply disappointing and entirely at odds with a true Team Canada approach. Strychnine inflicts extreme suffering on animals and poses serious risks to wildlife, non-target species, and ecosystems, undermining Canada’s commitment to humane, science-based, and environmentally responsible policy,” said Michael Bernard, Deputy Director, Humane World for Animals Canada, formerly known as Humane Society International Canada.
“As the planet faces more frequent and severe weather extremes, we must help farmers shift away from trying to fight nature and move toward working with it,” says Hannah Barron, Conservation Director at Wolf Awareness, adding, “Supporting native predators and their habitats can help promote natural biological control mechanisms inherent to healthy ecosystems.”
Measures to naturally manage ground squirrel population levels include maintaining vegetation along field edges, installing nesting platforms for raptors, protecting badgers from vehicle collisions and ending the cruel killing of coyotes through bounties, killing contests, and poisoning by Compound 1080.
Lia Laskaris, Chief Executive Officer, Animal Alliance of Canada, raises a critical question: “According to the Government of Canada’s own website, ‘Grasslands, in particular native grasslands, are the single most endangered ecosystem in Canada.’ How can Health Canada reconcile using this chemical in this ecosystem?”
Lesley Sampson, founding Executive Director of Coyote Watch Canada adds, “The cumulative impact of liberal predator killing and strychnine poisoning is contradictory and is creating an unbalanced, unhealthy ecosystem. Poisoning programs, killing contests, and bounty incentives, impede the essential prey-predator balance, drive systemic suffering for native wildlife, and undermine the natural checks and balances healthy landscapes depend on. We need more predators on the landscape—not more strychnine.”
“Death by strychnine is excruciating,” said lawyer Kaitlyn Mitchell, Director of Legal Advocacy with Animal Justice. “Canadians expect better than to have producers scattering this indiscriminate poison across ecosystems, leaving songbirds, foxes, owls, and even companion dogs to suffer and die needlessly. This decision is irresponsible, unscientific, and unethical and contradicts the environmental protection purposes underlying the Pest Control Products Act.”
The coalition is urging Health Canada to uphold its 2020 and 2024 decisions to end all uses of strychnine and work with provinces to ensure that farmers take up effective, humane and ecologically sound integrated pest management strategies.
List of Groups in Coalition:
Animal Alliance of Canada
Animal Environment Legal Advocacy
Animal Justice
Cochrane Ecological Institute
Coyote Watch Canada
Ecojustice
Friends of the Earth Canada
The Furbearers
Humane World for Animals Canada (formerly Humane Society International Canada)
International Fund for Animal Welfare
WeHowl
Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan
Wolf Awareness
For more information, please contact:
Hannah Barron
Conservation Director, Wolf Awareness
hannah@wolfawareness.org / 647-567-8337
Lia Laskaris
Chief Executive Officer, Animal Alliance of Canada
lia@animalalliance.ca
Josh Lynn
Public Relations Manager, Animal Justice
jlynn@animaljustice.ca
Dominique Davidson
Program Manager, Humane World for Animals
ddavidson@humaneworld.org / 438-951-0350
