Victory! Canada Officially Bans Cruel Cosmetic Testing On Animals

Photo Credit: HSI/Canada, Darren Brown

A positive step forward for animals as cosmetic animal testing and trade has officially been banned in Canada. The law was passed yesterday by the Canadian government through the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-47). In addition to banning cosmetics animal testing, the amendments will also prohibit selling cosmetics that rely on new animal testing data to establish the product’s safety and false or misleading labelling pertaining to the testing of cosmetics on animals.

Animal protection advocates Humane Society International (HSI)/Canada, Animal Alliance Canada, and Cruelty Free International, together with Cosmetics Alliance Canada, Lush Cosmetics, and The Body Shop, have been working closely with the Canadian government for several years to advance workable legislation to ban cosmetic animal testing in Canada.

The coalition is thrilled that Canada will now join over 40 jurisdictions and major markets that have already passed laws to end or limit cosmetic animal testing and/or sales.

“Testing cosmetics on animals is both cruel and unnecessary. That is why we are proud to move forward on our promise to ban cosmetic animal testing and trade,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, the Minister of Health for the Government of Canada. “Protecting animals now and in the future is something many Canadians have been advocating for, and now, we can all be assured that cosmetics in Canada are cruelty-free, and we will continue to take all necessary measures to improve animal welfare.”

“A decade of campaigning by HSI/Canada and our partners has given the Canadian beauty sector a cruelty-free makeover. We have been honored to work closely with the Canadian government and all stakeholders to advance these measures over the years, and we are delighted to see Canada pass this historic legislation to ban cosmetic animal testing and trade,” Michael Bernard, deputy director of HSI/Canada told WAN.

“Now that this bill has become law, Canadian consumers can be assured that the cosmetics they purchase have not come as a result of animal suffering—and that is something we can all feel good about,” continued Bernard.

Last week, WAN reported that Canada passed measures that will phase out the use of animals for chemical toxicity testing. We are happy that Canada is continuing to put animal welfare first by passing these recent measures. 

“Animal Alliance supporters thank Minister Duclos and Health Canada staff for making the cosmetics animal testing ban a reality,” said Liz White, director, Animal Alliance of Canada. “Canada will join the growing number of countries worldwide that have ended such practices and the government will fulfill its promise to introduce legislation to end cosmetics testing on animals as soon as 2023.”

“Cruelty Free International applauds the Canadian Government for taking action to fulfill the wishes of the vast majority of Canadian citizens who supported a ban on animal testing for cosmetics,” said Monica Engebretson, head of public affairs North America, Cruelty Free International. “This has been a unifying issue that has earned cross-party support in Canada and will match the progress we are seeing around the world as consumers, companies, regulators and advocates come together to achieve a common goal of ensuring that animals won’t suffer for the sake of cosmetics anywhere.”