Trapping standards in B.C.

In 1999 Canada ratified the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) (PDF, 76 KB). AIHTS sets out performance minimums for killing traps and restraining traps used for species listed in the agreement.

On this page

• Furbearer species covered under AIHTS
• What the agreement means for trappers in B.C.
• Notification on box and cage traps for raccoon trapping for the 2028-2029 trapping season

Furbearer species covered under AIHTS

Furbearer species in British Columbia covered under the AIHTS include: 

The agreement serves to ensure that only certified traps that meet or exceed specific animal welfare thresholds are used to trap these animals. Further, it protects Canada’s access to the European fur market and thus helps protect the wild fur industry in Canada. 

The agreement is being implemented through a phased approach, with the requirement to use only AIHTS-certified traps for a particular species becoming mandatory only after a sufficient number of trap types have been certified and trappers have been provided notification that regulations will be changed. If an insufficient number of certified traps are available for a given species, current trap types or models will be allowed for that species until a reasonable number of traps have been certified through the AIHTS process. The 2007-2008 trapping season marked the first year British Columbia trappers were required by law to use only AIHTS-certified traps for a subset of the species listed in the agreement.

What the agreement means for trappers in B.C.

The agreement applies to most furbearers trapped in B.C. for the following purposes:

• Wildlife management, including wildlife conflict control
• Obtaining furs, skins or meat
• Conservation

Currently, a person using killing traps for: beaver, bobcat, fisher, lynx, marten, muskrat, otter, raccoon and weasels (least, short-tailed, and long-tailed), or restraining traps for beaver (cage traps), bobcat, lynx and wolf is required, by law, to use only species-specific traps included in B.C.’s trapping regulations which have been certified under the Agreement. As additional traps are tested and certified for these species they will be added to this list of legal traps – traps for these species are not legal until they have been added to B.C.’s regulations.

Consult the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis and the Hunting and Trapping Regulation Synopsis corrections and updates for the latest list of AIHTS-certified traps approved for use in B.C.

Canada’s commitment to the ongoing implementation of the agreement allows trappers to continue to market their furs internationally, and will ensure Canada continues to play a leading role in the research, development and implementation of humane trapping methods to effectively manage our fur resource.

For more information on the Agreement please consult the Fur Institute of Canada’s website at www.fur.ca.

Notification on requiring certified box and cage traps for raccoon trapping for the 2028-2029 trapping season

To date, over 20 box and cage traps have been certified for live trapping raccoons through the AIHTS trap testing and certification process. A current list of these traps can be found at the Fur Institute of Canada’s Trap Certification and Technologies webpage:

• Trap certification and technologies

With this number of box and cage traps certified for raccoon trapping, the government of B.C. is considering restricting the use of box and cage traps for live-trapping raccoons to AIHTS-certified box and cage traps only, beginning in the 2028-2029 trapping year. Other Canadian jurisdictions are making similar updates to their trapping regulations.

This information is being provided to allow the trapping community time to acquire the certified traps in advance of the 2028-2029 trapping season, in the event this regulation is implemented.