Profits over Principles: Animal Welfare Takes a Back Seat During Transport to Slaughter in Canada’s Animal Agriculture Industry

Although Canada has established laws to protect farmed animals during transport to slaughter, enforcement gaps and insufficient protections persist, resulting in preventable suffering. This article argues that Canada’s framework systematically underprotects animals during transport: property-based legal concepts, deference to industry-defined “generally accepted practices”, and fragmented federal-provincial enforcement built around nonbinding NFACC standards undermine accountability. Drawing together deficiencies that are individually well documented, it argues that they share a common mechanism and adds new evidence of that mechanism from Canada’s live horse-export trade. Through critical analysis of the Health of Animals Act, the Criminal Code, NFACC Codes of Practice, relevant case law, and comparative material from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, the article considers why technically sound reform proposals have repeatedly failed to be adopted. It recommends adopting enforceable species-specific transport standards, strengthening federal oversight, and improving reporting and transparency.