Overview
- Health Canada authorized Monday a controlled, time‑limited registration allowing two per cent liquid strychnine to combat Richardson’s ground squirrels, with use permitted until November 2027.
- The approval applies only in designated areas rather than province‑wide and comes with extra safeguards such as a narrowed application zone, a stewardship program, mandatory training, carcass collection and monitoring.
- Alberta and Saskatchewan won approval after a revised joint request added risk‑reduction measures, reversing a February rejection by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
- The PMRA banned strychnine in 2024 over risks to non‑target wildlife, including species at risk like swift foxes and burrowing owls, and animal‑welfare groups now call the reversal unsafe and unscientific.
- Provincial ministers and farm groups welcomed the decision as relief from severe crop, pasture and infrastructure damage, with Alberta citing losses up to about $800 million and planning procurement and training to roll out the program.