When the bill was first introduced, it lacked concrete measures to phase out animal toxicity testing. Animal Justice and partner organizations collaborated with lawmakers to amend the bill by including a roadmap for transitioning away from using animals in toxicity testing. The legislation now requires the government to support and implement cruelty-free alternatives to toxicity testing on animals, empowers the government to make regulations about how non-animal testing should be done, and mandates that the Ministers of the Environment and Health publish a plan within the next two years to promote animal-free toxicity testing methods.

“This is truly a momentous day for animals in Canada,” Animal Justice director of legal advocacy Kaitlyn Mitchell said. “Toxicity testing is the most harmful and painful use of animals in scientific research and involves experiments that often fall under the most severe category of harm that animals can experience. We are seeing a global shift away from toxicity testing on animals, and with this new law, Canada can finally catch up to jurisdictions like the US and EU, which already have strong legal tools to phase out these horrific experiments.”