Breaking! Canada’s Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act Passes The Senate & Is One Step Closer To Becoming Law

Incredible news! The Canadian Senate just passed Bill S-214 The Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act at its third reading. The bill will be presented to the House of Commons at the beginning of the next legislative session in September and, if passed, animal testing will no longer be permitted for cosmetics in Canada.

The Body Shop and Cruelty Free International both hailed the result as a success for their joint campaign, Forever Against Animal Testing, which to date has collected 6.5 million signatures. The duo delivered a petition to the Canadian Parliament with some 630,000 Canadian signatures in support of a ban – the largest petition to be delivered in over 70 years.

“This is fantastic progress. The support of the Canadian government, and in particular Senator Stewart Olsen, brings us one step closer to a ban on animal testing on cosmetics in Canada for good,” Jessie Macneil-Brown, Head of Global Campaigns at The Body Shop International. “We ask everyone everywhere to keep passionately campaigning and standing up for those who don’t have a voice! Our fight isn’t over yet.”

Monica Engebretson, North America Campaign Manager at Cruelty Free International, added, “We are delighted that Canada is joining the growing international movement towards a world without cosmetics animal testing. Canada now has a real opportunity to become the North American leader on this issue. By ending the sale of animal tested cosmetics, Canada can match global progress and meet the demands of consumers across Canada, who have demonstrated time and again that they support a Cruelty Free Canada.”

California is also working on passing the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act. The bill is sponsored by our partner organization, Social Compassion In Legislation, and co-sponsored by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. It is also supported by Lush Cosmetics, John Paul Mitchell Systems, and over 100 cruelty-free cosmetics companies.

As the fifth largest economy in the world, California would be the first state in the U.S. to ban cruel and unnecessary testing of cosmetics on animals, which kills more than 400,000 animals each year. If you live in California, please call your Assembly Members at the State Capitol and tell them that you support SB1249 The California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act.

Find Your Assembly Members HERE!