Ottawa has given the green light for the controlled and temporary emergency use of strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan to combat significant damage caused by an invasion of Richardson’s ground squirrels, commonly known as gophers.
After a previous proposal was turned down by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency in February, Alberta and Saskatchewan jointly resubmitted a revised emergency-use request to Health Canada last week. The agency had prohibited the use of strychnine two years ago due to concerns about the substance’s impact on other wildlife species, including endangered species like the swift fox and burrowing owl, which could ingest poisoned carcasses.
Health Canada indicated in a recent news release that the approved request from the provinces included additional restrictions and measures to reduce the environmental risks associated with the rodent poison to an acceptable level.
“This is fantastic news for farmers across the Prairies,” expressed RJ Sigurdson, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation, in a social media post.
Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, the federal government is allowing the two provinces to register strychnine under an emergency registration until November 2027.
Farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan have been advocating for the reintroduction of strychnine to address the growing populations of Richardson’s ground squirrels, which target various crops. Strychnine, in a two per cent liquid form, was previously the primary solution for gopher control on farms in the two provinces until the federal government phased out its use in 2020 and banned it entirely in 2024 due to environmental concerns.
“Saskatchewan producers have been vocal about the difficulties they face in managing gophers with the limited tools currently available,” stated David Marit, Saskatchewan’s minister of agriculture, in a press release.
Wade Nelson, a farmer near High River, Alberta, reported significant crop losses due to a gopher infestation and welcomed the government’s decision to authorize the emergency use of strychnine once again. Nelson emphasized the lack of a viable alternative for managing the gopher issue effectively and hoped for an extension of the authorization beyond 2027.
He expressed optimism that through collaboration between producers and local authorities, they could demonstrate the safe and efficient use of strychnine to avoid ongoing uncertainties regarding its availability for managing gopher populations.
