Public Health
After the disease outbreaks on hundreds of mink farms during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the international community recognized that the fur farm sector is a global public health risk. Animals farmed for their fur are known hosts for zoonotic diseases including coronaviruses and influenza, and the risk of disease spillover between fur-farmed animals and humans is ever-present. Over the course of the pandemic, many countries moved to end fur farming, including France (2021), The Netherlands (2021), Italy (2022), Ireland (2022), Malta (2022), Latvia (2022), Belgium (2023), and Lithuania (2023). In a Canadian first, British Columbia banned mink farming in 2021. The Provincial Health Officer of British Columbia declared that “mink farming is a health hazard as it is an activity which endangers or is likely to endanger public health.”
Animal Welfare
The practice of fur farming has been banned in numerous countries, primarily due to the suffering experienced by wild animal species kept in extreme confinement. In Canada, the species of animals known to be actively farmed for their fur include wolves, bobcats, foxes, minks, chinchillas, and lynx. Because of the absence of regulations in many provinces and the secretive nature of Canada’s fur farm industry, other species may be farmed for their fur as well. Fur-farmed animals experience significant pain and suffering throughout their lives in captivity on fur farms. Animals are confined in cages for their entire lives and are unable to engage in natural behaviours like digging, hunting, running, and socializing, leading to adverse physical and psychological conditions. These can manifest as abnormal behaviours such as repetitive pacing, circling, self-mutilation, and cannibalism.
The Environment
The environmental impacts of fur farming extend far beyond the fences of fur farms. Many of Canada’s fur farms are large industrial operations, where tens of thousands of minks are housed in long, open-sided sheds. The nitrogen and phosphorous-rich excrement from minks builds up under their cages, leading to manure runoff that causes eutrophication, polluting the soil and nearby bodies of water. In Nova Scotia, home to a high concentration of Canada’s fur farms, mink farming operations have been documented to negatively impact soil and water quality, posing risks for fish, birds, farmed and wild animals, humans, and entire ecosystems.
FAQ
Fur farming is a form of wildlife farming where animals like minks, foxes, wolves, and lynx are kept captive and killed solely for their fur. The size of fur farms can range from several dozen animals to tens of thousands of animals on a single farm. The largest fur farms in Canada are intensive, industrial operations.
Yes. The 2021 Census of Agriculture reported 79 mink farms and 18 fox farms, with at least one fur farm in every province. Research by The Fur-Bearers has also uncovered the presence of wolf, lynx, bobcat, and chinchilla fur farms in Canada.
Click here to view a map and see information about fur farming in your province. Due to the lack of reliable, public information about Canada’s fur farming industry, The Fur-Bearers compiles data from Statistics Canada, freedom of information requests, and government communications to try to obtain a complete picture of fur farming in Canada. This map is updated when new information becomes available.
The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows that 1,011,600 mink and 2,050 foxes were killed for the fur in Canada in 2020 on Canadian fur farms. These statistics are no longer being published. Statistics Canada does not collect data on other species farmed for their fur.
Industry guidelines developed by the National Farm Animal Care Council require gas chambers for mink and anal electrocution for foxes. The Fur-Bearers learned that anal electrocution is also used to kill chinchillas.
There are no accepted guidelines or legal requirements for the killing of wolves, bobcats, and lynx, leaving the killing method at the discretion of the fur farm operator.
The majority of animals farmed for their fur in Canada are minks, followed by foxes. These animals are confined in tiny, wire-bottom cages their entire lives. According to voluntary industry guidelines developed by the National Farm Animal Care Council, one adult female mink can be kept in a cage that is 38cm by 20cm, barely larger than a standard sheet of paper. For foxes, existing cages can be 76cm by 76cm. These animals will live their entire lives in these cages and never be able to experience many of their natural behaviours they would enjoy in their natural environment.
There are no national industry guidelines for species other than minks and foxes.
Fur from Canadian fur farms is primarily exported to the US and overseas markets to use in non-essential, luxury fashion products.
No, many countries have banned fur farming already, beginning with the United Kingdom in 2003. In fact, Canada is among the few remaining countries worldwide where fur farming is still legal and practiced. Over 25 countries have banned fur farming or have introduced motions to ban the practice. In 2026, the European Commission will decide whether to ban fur farming across the entire European Union.
British Columbia became the first province to ban mink farming in 2021.
Many of the concerns around fur farming are within federal jurisdiction including public health, protection of the environment, and animal cruelty. Half of the provinces do not regulate the fur farming sector, leaving a regulatory patchwork across Canada that puts people, ecosystems, and animals at risk.
The jobs in the fur farm industry are seasonal, part-time, low-wage, and the work is precarious and unsafe. There is an opportunity to transition workers to more secure, safer, and environmentally sustainable industries. One example of a transition can be seen in British Columbia, where former mink farm workers were offered training supports to gain employment in the province’s greenhouse sector.
Many countries provided compensation to fur farm companies when farms were closed and bans implemented, offering example frameworks for a transition away from fur farming in Canada.
Fur farming and Indigenous trapping are separate issues. For Indigenous Peoples, the right to trap for subsistence and ceremonial practices is affirmed under the Constitution Act. Fur farming is a colonial practice that intensively farms and commercializes wild animals for luxury fashion products. Ending fur farming would not interfere with recognized Indigenous harvesting rights.
Fur farms regularly access public funding, subsidies, and loans from the provincial and federal governments. The fur farm industry has received upwards of $100 million in public money to try to keep the sector afloat as it is not economically viable to sustain itself.
Statistics Canada’s last reporting year for the fur farm industry was 2019, where sales from the sector contributed $44 million to the Canadian economy, amounting to 0.06% of the total agricultural economy that year. Due to the collapse of global fur prices, closure of fur farms during the COVID-19 pandemic, and overall decline of the fur industry, the economic impact of fur farming today is marginal.
A 2022 poll commissioned by The Fur-Bearers and conducted by independent polling firm Research Co., found that 74% of Canadians support a national ban on fur farming. A 2024 public opinion poll conducted by Research Co. found that 78% of Canadians oppose killing animals for their fur.
The Canadian fur farm industry
The following map compiles data from Statistics Canada, freedom of information requests, and government communications to try to obtain a complete picture of fur farming in Canada. Click on a province for more details about fur farming, including the number of farms, known species being farmed for their fur, and regulatory information. This map is updated when new information becomes available.
Knowledge Base
Learn more about the impacts of fur farming by selecting the drop-down menus to read research published about the fur farm sector in Canada and abroad. Articles are organized by publish date.
Libera, N., Rühland, K. M., Kurek, J., & Smol, J. P. (2024). Before and after mink fur farming: water chemistry and sedimentary diatom assemblages in lakes from southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. Lake and Reservoir Management, 40(1), 18–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2024.2306639
Kevin S. Kuchinski, John Tyson, Tracy Lee, Susan Detmer, Yohannes Berhane, Theresa Burns, Natalie A. Prystajecky, Chelsea G. Himsworth. Detection of a reassortant swine- and human-origin H3N2 influenza A virus in farmed mink in British Columbia, Canada. bioRxiv 2024.05.27.596080; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.27.596080
Boratto, R., Porter, A.A. & Shepherd, C.R. Canada’s role in global wildlife trade: Research trends and next steps. Eur J Wildl Res 70, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-023-01763-2
Kissinger, J.A., Gregory, B., Clarkson, C., Libera, N., Eickmeyer, D.C., Kimpe, L.E., Kurek, J., Smol, J.P., and Blais, J.M. (2023). Tracking pollution from fur farms using forensic paleolimnology. Environmental Pollution 335: 122307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122307
Campbell, J., Libera, N., Smol, J. P., & Kurek, J. (2022). Historical impacts of mink fur farming on chironomid assemblages from shallow lakes in Nova Scotia, Canada. Lake and Reservoir Management, 38(1), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2021.2018631
Paiero A, Newhouse E, Chan YLE, Clair V, Russell S, Zlonsnik J, Prystajecky N, Fraser E. SARS-CoV-2 in mink farms in British Columbia, Canada: A report of two outbreaks in 2020–2021. Can Commun Dis Rep 2022; 48(6):274–81. https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v48i06a05
Clair V, Chan YLE, Paiero A, Fraser E, Gunvaldsen R, Newhouse E. One Health response to SARS-CoV-2-associated risk from mink farming in British Columbia, Canada, October 2020 to October 2021. Can Commun Dis Rep 2022; 48(6):261–73. https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v48i06a04
Strang T, Flockhart L, Thacker C, Schwantje H, Soos C, Dibernardo A, Lindsay LR, Toledo NPL, Beauclerc K, Fraser E, Prystajecky N, Himsworth C. SARS-CoV-2 wildlife surveillance surrounding mink farms in British Columbia, Canada. Can Commun Dis Rep 2022; 48(6):252–60. https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v48i06a03
Gregory, B.R.B., Kissinger, J.A., Clarkson, C., Kimpe, L.E., Eickmeyer, D.C., Kurek, J., Smol, J.P., and Blais, J.M. (2022). Are fur farms a potential source of persistent organic pollutants or mercury to freshwater ecosystems? Science of the Total Environment 833: 155100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155100
Jones, A., Labaj, A., Campbell, J., Libera, N., and Kurek, J. (2022). Zooplankton assemblage and body size responses to severe lake eutrophication from agricultural activities near mink farms in Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Plankton Research. Volume 44, Issue 3, May/June 2022, Pages 464–474, https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbac022
A. Van Heyst, Sinclair A, R. Jamieson. (2022) Application of phosphorus loading models to understand drivers of eutrophication in a complex rural lake-watershed system. Journal of Environmental Management. Volume 302, Part A, 114010, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114010.
Sarah Frame, Sinking Mink: An Argument for Ending the Mink Industry in Nova Scotia, 2022 45-1 Dalhousie Law Journal, 2022 CanLIIDocs 1351. https://canlii.ca/t/7jsjq
Compo, N., Pearl, D.L., Tapscott, B. et al. On-farm biosecurity practices and causes of preweaning mortality in Canadian commercial mink kits. Acta Vet Scand 59, 57 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-017-0326-8
Jeff Bowman, Kaela Beauclerc, A. Hossain Farid, Heather Fenton, Cornelya F.C. Klütsch, and Albrecht I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2017. Hybridization of domestic mink with wild American mink (Neovison vison) in eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 95(6): 443-451. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0171
M. Brylinksy. (2012) Results of the 2011 Water Quality Survey of Ten Lakes Located in the Carleton River Watershed Area of Digby and Yarmouth Counties, Nova Scotia. Prepared for Nova Scotia Environment. https://novascotia.ca/nse/surface.water/docs/Yarmouth.Area.Lakes.Water.Quality.Assessment.2012.pdf
Nituch LA, Bowman J, Beauclerc KB, Schulte-Hostedde AI (2011) Mink Farms Predict Aleutian Disease Exposure in Wild American Mink. PLOS ONE 6(7): e21693. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021693
Gagnon CA, Spearman G, Hamel A, Godson DL, Fortin A, Fontaine G, Tremblay D. 2009. Characterization of a Canadian Mink H3N2 Influenza A Virus Isolate Genetically Related to Triple Reassortant Swine Influenza Virus. J Clin Microbiol 47: https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.01228-08
Enetwild Consortium, Vada R., Caliendo V., Gonzálvez M. Buzan E., Bussi M., Caliendo V., Palumbo L., García-Bocanegra I., Zanet S., Ferroglio E., Rijks J. , 2024. Highly pathogenic Avian influenza in wild mammals: critical appraisal of spill-over events and of strategies for prevention, surveillance and preparedness. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13885775
Zhao, J., Wan, W., Yu, K. et al. Farmed fur animals harbour viruses with zoonotic spillover potential. Nature 634, 228–233 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07901-3
Marincheva, V. & Manev, I. (2024). The zoonotic potential of mink farming. Bulgarian Journal of Animal Husbandry, 61(3), 29-38. https://doi.org/10.61308/WSCU2581
Cossaboom, C.M.; Wendling, N.M.; Lewis, N.M.; Rettler, H.; Harvey, R.R.; Amman, B.R.; Towner, J.S.; Spengler, J.R.; Erickson, R.; Burnett, C.; et al. One Health Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in People and Animals on Multiple Mink Farms in Utah. Viruses 2023, 15, 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/v15010096
Clifford Warwick, Anthony Pilny, Catrina Steedman and Rachel Grant. (2023) One health implications of fur farming. Frontiers in Animal Science Volume 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2023.1249901
Ashleigh F Porter, Damian F J Purcell, Benjamin P Howden, Sebastian Duchene, Evolutionary rate of SARS-CoV-2 increases during zoonotic infection of farmed mink, Virus Evolution, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2023, vead002, https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/vead002
Agüero Montserrat, Monne Isabella, Sánchez Azucena, Zecchin Bianca, Fusaro Alice, Ruano María José, del Valle Arrojo Manuel, Fernández-Antonio Ricardo, Souto Antonio Manuel, Tordable Pedro, Cañás Julio, Bonfante Francesco, Giussani Edoardo, Terregino Calogero, Orejas Jesús Javier. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in farmed minks, Spain, October 2022. Euro Surveill. 2023;28(3):pii=2300001. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.3.2300001
Sun, H., Li, F., Liu, Q., Du, J., Liu, L., Sun, H., … Liu, J. (2021). Mink is a highly susceptible host species to circulating human and avian influenza viruses. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 10(1), 472–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2021.1899058
Bas B. Oude Munnink et al., Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms between humans and mink and back to humans. Science 371, 172-177(2021). DOI:10.1126/science.abe5901
Rebecca K. Meagher, Dana L.M. Campbell, Georgia J. Mason. (2017) Boredom-like states in mink and their behavioural correlates: A replicate study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Volume 197. 2017, Pages 112-119, ISSN 0168-1591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2017.08.001
Rebecca K. Meagher, Dana L.M. Campbell, Jamie Ahloy Dallaire, María Díez-León, Rupert Palme, Georgia J. Mason. Sleeping tight or hiding in fright? The welfare implications of different subtypes of inactivity in mink. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Volume 144, Issues 3–4, 2013,
Pages 138-146, ISSN 0168-1591, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2013.01.008.
Fur Farming in Canada: Towards a Post-Fur Future
Published by The Fur-Bearers in 2023 and updated in 2024, this report provides an overview of fur farming in Canada, outlining the risks and harms caused by the sector: from public health risks to negative environmental impacts, to the harm caused to the countless animals farmed for their fur. It then turns to solutions and what is needed to successfully transition away from fur farming.
Click the title or image to download the report.
Inside Canada's fur farms
The following images show the scale and conditions of Canadian fur farms. All visuals credit: We Animals.
