An important part of the new Bill S-5 is the call for Canada to develop a strategy to replace, reduce and refine the use of vertebrate animals in toxicity testing - a practice that the Liberal government promised in its last election platform for 2035. For example, a reduction strategy is also currently being developed in Germany.

CCAAM is the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods, located in Windsor at the southernmost tip of Ontario. The Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM) as well as the Canadian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (CaCVAM), which is also located there, aim to develop, validate and promote non-animal, human biological platforms in biomedical research, education and chemical safety testing. However, unlike similar national centers in the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil and South Korea, CCAAM has never received federal funding. As a result, it has now been closed at the end of October due to budget constraints at the University of Windsor.

“We see the official launch of the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods as a definite benefit to Canada. As regulatory science increasingly focuses on non-animal alternatives, it is important that we now have a focal point at the University of Windsor that will serve as a center of excellence, a key collaborative partner, and a training ground for the next generation of highly qualified personnel who will contribute to Canadian regulatory science. We look forward to pursuing many very obvious collaborative opportunities in the months and years ahead and advancing our national and international efforts in the area of alternatives.” as Tim Singer, Director General of Health Canada's Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Division, had said.

The closure and, above all, the lack of funding for the center is in clear contradiction to the legal intention of the national reduction strategy.

Health Canada says revisions to the government’s draft strategy will be made “based on input received from the public and stakeholders, with a final strategy expected to be published by June 2025.”

“Without the necessary government funding, we are stalled - a ship full of potential anchored on the shore while other nations forge ahead,” said Dr. Charu Chandrasekera, founder and executive director of CCAAM in a recent post on LinkedIn.

In the coming days, she will need all the support she can get to call on the Canadian government to provide the necessary funding.

Letter-writing campaign
With the goal of securing the future of non-animal science in Canada, interested parties are asked to submit a comment by November 13, 2024 as part of a letter-writing campaign, which is coordinated by Animal Justice Canada.

More information will be coming soon at: https://animaljustice.ca/

All engaged readers are asked to urge the Canadian government to engage alongside other nations by providing critical funding to CCAAM and Canada's strategic plan to phase out chemical testing. The plan is to re-establish CCAAM in Ottawa.

You can make a donation here: https://action.animaljustice.ca/page/159980/action/1?ea.tracking.id=u4nbdk2t

Read more here:
https://animaljustice.ca/media-releases/national-centre-closure-could-derail-federal-pledge-to-end-chemical-testing-on-animals
https://www.canada.ca/
https://www.uwindsor.ca/ccaam/
https://animaljustice.ca/blog/canada-releases-strategy-toxicity-testing
https://www.corporateknights.com/leadership/canadas-plan-to-phase-out-animal-testing-suffers-a-setback/