Image by Brian Gunn

In May 2024, Canada’s only centre for the development and validation of alternatives to the use of animals in experimentation was quietly shuttered, and its cutting-edge work came to a tragic and bitterly truncated end.

The lab’s focus on making meaningful progress for animals and for human patients received no funding from the Canadian government, despite Canada’s commitment to phasing out at least toxicity testing on animals by 2035, if not biomedical experimentation.  The government has failed to take commensurate action to fund these efforts, and has allowed The Canadian Centre for the Development of Alternatives to Animal Methods to close its doors.

This is a devastating loss for Canada’s progress in ethical and innovative science. 

Points to consider:  

CCAAM is Canada’s only national and globally-acclaimed centre for alternatives, with unprecedented public-private partnerships, an ambitious strategic plan, and dedicated leadership                                   

Other centres like CCAAM around the world are federally funded, with annual funding ranging from $7-19 million per year                                 

Canada has always lagged behind other nations, with unacceptable lab animal use (3-4 times as many animals per capita annually as the European Union and Norway combined)                                                       

But Canada now has new legislation (amendments to CEPA in Bill S-5) and a strategic plan to phase out chemical toxicity testing on animals and a ban on cosmetic animal testing; and the government committed to advancing research in this field in Budget 2024                               

Despite all that, the country’s only Centre capable of driving that change was forced to close solely due to lack of federal funding (lab currently in storage in Ottawa)

The Centre has found a potential new home in Ottawa, but needs sustainable funding to establish it there in the nation’s capital

All pleas to the federal government—from industry, academic groups, animal welfare organizations, and international experts in the field—have fallen on deaf ears

Unlike other countries with large, long-term federal commitments like the US, UK, Netherlands, Korea, European Union, CCAAM is looking for pocket change ($2 million/year for 5 years) but still hasn’t received a commitment from the government of Canada

The need for action is urgent, and the reality is clear: without significant support, the work CCAAM has done—and its potential to lead transformational change in Canada—will be lost.

We call on Health Canada, and Canada’s major funding agencies, CIHR and NSERC, to immediately provide the CCAAM with emergency foundational funding that would allow it to establish itself at Carleton University in Ottawa, where the vital work of founding director Dr. Charu Chandrasekera and her dedicated team can proceed.