Critics say Saskatchewan and Canada should ban fur farming for public health reasons and to prevent cruelty, but a pro-fur advocate says the industry is a proud Canadian tradition and an important part of the country’s economy.

The Fur-Bearers, a wildlife charity, recently found via freedom of information requests that there are five active fur farms in Saskatchewan.

CBC News reviewed those documents, which are partially redacted information. The Saskatchewan fur farms range in size — the smallest had three animals while the largest housed 59 as of the province’s most recent inventories — and species farmed — wolves, lynxes, bobcats and foxes.

“Saskatchewan is not known for fur farming. But startling about these farms is the species are not typically known for fur farming,” Aaron Hofman, the director of advocacy and policy for the Fur-Bearers, said.

“This is the first time we’ve seen these species being farmed in Canada.”

Hofman said Statistics Canada stopped reporting data years ago. He said the group filed the document requests due to a “big data gap in Canada about the full scale of fur farming.”

Hofman said the largest fur producers are Ontario and Nova Scotia, which operate dozens of large mink farms with up to tens of thousands of animals. B.C. was one of the biggest producers until it banned mink farming.

“Canada might be the only country that’s actively farming wolves for their fur. This is unheard of globally. It really puts Canada on the map for all the wrong reasons,” Hofman said.

Doug Chiasson, the executive director at the Fur Institute of Canada, disagreed. He said fur farming has a history in Canada and that the complaints are nothing new. 

“Canada’s been a pioneer, a world leader, in fur farming for a number of different species. This is yet another attempt by this group to discredit this important industry,” he said.

“This is far from the first time we’ve seen an attempt by anti-fur groups and animal rights groups to say this is new and shocking. Fur farming has a long and proud tradition across Canada, including Saskatchewan.”

Questions about regulation

Hofman from the Fur-Bearers said many provinces don’t have regulations around fur farming.

“Saskatchewan is one of the few that regulate it. Under these regulations, farmers must obtain a licence from the Ministry of Agriculture,” he said.

“The fact they’re regulated doesn’t mean much. Fur farming operates with virtually zero oversight. There are no mandatory inspections. These regulations have very little teeth related to animal welfare or conditions on the farm.”

In an email statement, the Ministry of Agriculture said all fur farm operators in the province are licensed and regulated according to the Fur Farming Regulations, 2017 under the Animal Products Act, which references nationally-accepted codes of practice for the care and handling of farm animals. The ministry said licenses are renewed annually and currently cost $500 a year.

“Upon receipt of a license application for a fur farm operation, applicants are subject to a pre-licence inspection which covers a variety of topics to ensure the applicant has the ability to properly care for the animals,” the statement read.

“Per the provincial regulations, fur farm animals must also be available for inspection at all reasonable times and inventories are provided annually. Inspections typically occur on an annual basis.”

Ban fur farming: Fur-Bearers

Hoffman said at least 19 countries have banned fur farming, especially mink farms which posed public health threats during the pandemic, and that Canada should follow suit.

“Beautiful wildlife species are being kept in fur farms and killed solely for their fur. It’s unacceptable.”

A 2023 survey by the polling firm Research Co. found 77 per cent of Canadians who responded opposed killing animals for their fur. Hofman said his group did a survey in 2022 in which 74 per cent of Canadians who responded supported a national ban on fur farming.

After outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in fur farms in Finland and Spain, Hofman said the sector is problematic not only for animal welfare, but also for public health and the environment. 

“We call for the federal government to implement the ban to be in line with other jurisdictions in the world,” Hofman said.

An important economic resource: pro-fur advocate

Chiasson, from the Fur Institute of Canada, said fur exports contributed $467 million to Canada’s trade balance in 2013. Chiasson said the Canadian fur industry “contributed over a billion dollars to Canadian GDP” before COVID-19 and the Russian invasion in Ukraine, with much of that economic benefit flowing to local communities.

“The importance of farm and wild fur to Canadian rural and remote economies is something that can’t be overlooked.”

In Saskatchewan, he said fur farming is a part of the agricultural landscape.

“It can be a bit dishonest to try and pull fur farming apart from the broader agricultural context. Fur farming uses the waste from other meat processing facilities, so it’s a way of maximizing value from the rest of the agricultural value chain.”

He said fur farming is “strictly regulated” by the provincial government and it’s “a bit imaginative to say that the province is going to regulate this industry but not enforce those regulations.”

“Fur farmers, much like other farmers, are people who care the most about the animals in their care,” he said, noting they work closely with veterinarians and animal health experts.

Trapping more sustainable: trapper

Franklin Carriere has been fur trapping for more than 40 years near Montreal Lake, Sask., some 350 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

Carriere said a balance needs to be reached, as banning fur farming would also mean a loss of animals, as they wouldn’t they survive in the wild after being domesticated since birth.

He said trapping is more sustainable than fur farming.

“One person benefits with fur farming, but with trapping, a lot of families surviving in the bush eat healthy,” he said.

“With trapping, we are allowed to kill a certain amount of animals we need to sustain. If I see a beaver house and there are six beavers in that house, I’d probably take three. But if it’s a small beaver house with just one in it, killing that beaver would destroy the house.”