Calgary

Alberta government calls for strychnine ban reversal to fight 'destructive force' of gophers

The Government of Alberta is calling for strychnine to be unbanned for use on Richardson's ground squirrels, commonly referred to as gophers. The province says reversing the ban on the controversial rodenticide would help farmers who are having their crops devastated by out-of-control gopher populations.

Controversial poison banned nationwide in 2024 due to environmental concerns

Richardson's ground squirrel.
A Richardson's ground squirrel in Calgary's Fish Creek Provincial Park. The province is calling for the federal government to reverse a ban on strychnine to allow for better control of the rodent's population. (Anne Elliott/Flickr)

Strychnine had long been the preferred pesticide for gopher control in Alberta — until the federal government began to phase out its use on Richardson's ground squirrels in 2020 and then banned it outright in 2024.

The Government of Alberta is now calling for the controversial poison to be unbanned by the Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

"Alberta's farmers and ranchers are in crisis," reads an open letter released through social media on June 27, signed by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson and Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow.

The letter, addressed to federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, calls for Ottawa "to immediately reverse the PMRA decision and reinstate the production and sale of strychnine for [Richardson's ground squirrel] control."

A woman and a man in suits pose for a photo.
RJ Sigurdson, provincial minister of agriculture and irrigation, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pictured in 2023. The two signed an open letter alongside Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow calling for the federal government to once again allow the use of liquid strychnine to manage Richardson's ground squirrel populations. (The Canadian Press)

Richardson's ground squirrels, known colloquially as gophers, "are a destructive force across the prairie provinces, threatening cereal, oilseed, pulse, forage, pasture, and horticultural crops," the letter reads.

According to the province, "the annual risk to hay and native pasture [due to damage caused by ground squirrels] exceeds $800 million."

A provincial spokesperson was not available for an interview ahead of publication.

In his post alongside the letter, the agriculture minister wrote that farmers "are being forced to fight this plague without their most effective tool," referring to strychnine.

"This isn't just a rural issue — it's a national food security issue. Without immediate federal action, we're staring down widespread crop failure in 2026 and a serious hit to Canada's food supply chain," Sigurdson wrote.

Sigurdson's constituency office did not respond to an interview request ahead of publication.

Why was strychnine banned?

Ahead of the initial ban on strychnine's use on Richardson's ground squirrels in 2020, the use of the rodenticide underwent a re-evaluation by Health Canada in 2018.

An evaluation of the highly-potent neurotoxin's use "confirmed that there are risks of concern for non-target organisms," according to the PMRA. 

"Health Canada acknowledges the value of strychnine to agricultural users because it is easy to use, cost effective and kills [Richardson's ground squirrels] in a single feeding [but] the primary mandate of Health Canada is to prevent unacceptable risk to individuals and the environment from the use of pest control products," the PMRA wrote in its 2020 decision. 

The agency pointed to the environmental risks associated with strychnine, including potential harm to species-at-risk such as burrowing owls and swift foxes, and concluded through a scientific review that those risks "were not shown to be acceptable," the agency wrote.

Four owls with large yellow eyes sit in the grass.
Burrowing owls are classified as an endangered species in Canada. The government-protected birds eat ground squirrels in the grasslands of Alberta and Saskatchewan — the two provinces where strychnine was used to control gophers — leading Health Canada to consider them at risk of being harmed by consuming strychnine-poisoned rodents. (The Associated Press)

Prior to the decision, the use of strychnine on all other ground squirrel species with the exception of Richardson's ground squirrels had been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Alberta and Saskatchewan were the only provinces in which the use of strychnine to control gophers was authorized.

The 2020 decision resulted in strychnine's use on Richardson's ground squirrels being phased out over the course of the next three years, with the ban taking effect in 2023.

But while strychnine was banned for use on gophers, using it kill predators like wolves and black bears, as well as skunks, remained legal solely in Alberta.

All uses of strychnine were banned nationwide in 2024 through another PMRA decision.

"Health Canada found that strychnine uses did not meet the requirements for protection of the environment and is cancelling all uses," the PMRA wrote.

Outside of Canada, the European Union has banned the use of strychnine as a rodenticide since 2006. The substance is still used to control gophers in the United States, though its use is regulated.

What gopher control looks like today

Sigurdson wrote that the strychnine ban "has left producers without viable alternatives" to control gophers.

Today, gopher populations can be managed by farmers through options like shooting and legal rodenticides.

Vulcan County farmer Ian Webber told CBC News that he's been using a chlorophacinone product as an alternative to strychnine, but that it isn't as effective.

"It lacks that kick that strychnine had," he said. "There were times where you go out and poison a bunch of holes and … there's no gophers, you've got them. And then with the other options, they just don't seem to quite do the job."

A farmer in a field.
Ian Webber, pictured on his 2,700-acre dryland grain farm in Vulcan County. (Brendan Coulter/CBC)

Webber, who grows canola, wheat, barley and more on his farm, said he's had to adapt his growing strategy due to the gopher problem.

He called canola a gopher's "meal ticket," adding that he alternates which crops he grows in certain parts of the field to make up for gophers going after the canola.

"Depending on the year, if you've got a field that is really bad, you can be into the tens of thousands of dollars of damage," he said, adding that time and effort spent controlling gophers is another expense.

A gopher peaks out of it's hole.
Effective population control of Richardson's ground squirrels can be difficult for many farmers. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

Webber said he would welcome the opportunity to use strychnine again.

"It's just an efficient and effective tool in the toolbox," he said. "You want as many tools as you can to go after a problem that you're facing, and that's just one extra tool that would help."

In neighbouring Foothills County, cattle rancher Ben Campbell said he tries to use natural inhibitors on his farm to keep gopher numbers down.

A man speaks to an audience while standing in a field.
Ben Campbell, pictured giving a farm tour, raises cattle on a 2,100-acre ranch near Diamond Valley. (Photo submitted by Ben Campbell)

"We don't shoot coyotes, we don't shoot badgers," he said.

Encouraging predators to hunt gophers on his property has helped Campbell manage the rodents.

"If [a badger] is in your field, it's eating gophers. That's the only thing it's doing," he said. "I found them to be very effective at stopping the gopher population from getting out of control."

A badger.
A badger on Ben Campbell's farm. While badgers are among the predators known to hunt gophers on farms, many farmers do not welcome their presence due to the wide holes they dig, which can injure livestock. (Ben Campbell)

But he hasn't had as much luck with predators lately, making it necessary to use rodenticide.

"In years gone by, we've used strychnine," he said. "It has been fairly effective, but of course there's always a concern."

Citing concerns around potentially poisoning other animals, he said he's happy to use safer alternatives like zinc phosphate, which he said has been an "extremely effective" solution over the last two years.

"I feel a lot better using that because I'm not worried about killing my natural predators or my neighbour's dogs," he said.

Campbell said he would "never" switch back to strychnine, adding that the substance's ban has had a positive impact for him.

"I think if strychnine was still legal, I and everyone else would just use it because it's the best and you just want to be effective," he said. "But now that I've been forced to use something else, I'm actually quite happy with it."

The Government of Alberta's Pest and Nuisance Control Regulation classifies Richardson's ground squirrels as "nuisances" rather than "pests." The primary difference is that pests — such as rats, grasshoppers and gypsy moths — must be actively managed, while nuisances like coyotes, magpies and ground squirrels may be controlled at the landowner's discretion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amir Said

Reporter/Editor

Amir Said is a reporter/editor with CBC Calgary. A graduate of the University of Regina, Amir's award-winning work as a writer and photographer has been published online and in print nationwide. Before joining the CBC team, Amir was a multimedia reporter with the Western Wheel newspaper and Great West Media. Amir can be reached at amir.said@cbc.ca or through social media.

With files from Brendan Coulter