OFAH Insider: Wild deer under pressure from CWD control program changes

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) is proposing changes to the federal chronic wasting disease (CWD) control program. Recognizing that the current national strategy has been ineffective at controlling the spread of CWD in farmed cervids, the CFIA is proposing to shift to a regional strategy that categorizes provinces and territories based on their CWD status.

CWD is always fatal and there is currently no live-animal test and no preventative vaccine. The disease is now firmly established in wild and farmed deer in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and has been detected in Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia. To date, CWD has not been detected in Ontario, despite being found in every surrounding jurisdiction.

CWD control program core changes

The core change is the decision to no longer order the destruction of animals on CWD-infected farms in provinces where the disease is established or emerging (AB, SK, MB). The agency notes that herd destruction is primarily useful as an eradication measure only when the disease has not yet become established in the surrounding wild deer population. In jurisdictions where CWD is not established, CFIA will continue to carry out eradication measures on cervid farms on the condition that the relevant provincial or territorial wildlife authority carry out similar eradication measures in wild cervids in the vicinity of the infected farm.

The agency will also develop a national cervid traceability framework. Once in place, federal permits will no longer be required to move live cervids in areas where CWD is not established or emerging, like Ontario.

“Although the CFIA is only responsible for farmed cervids, it’s naive to think that federal decisions like this don’t put our wild deer, and all the benefits that come with healthy deer populations, at risk,” OFAH Manager of Policy Mark Ryckman said. “The OFAH has long opposed deer farming and we continue to call for a phase out of the practice across Canada, with appropriate compensation for producers.”

Originally published in the Nov.-Dec. 2025 issue of Ontario Out of Doors

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