The Problem with Alberta’s Proposed Harvest Preserves and the Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease
Written by Rebecca Kauffman and Jason Unger
The Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 10) is an omnibus bill with amendments that seek to legalize canned hunts (where hunted animals are confined by fencing) and brings with it risks around prion disease. This isn’t red tape reduction this is direct legislative amendments that permit something that has been, until now, illegal in Alberta due to both ethical concerns and risks around the spread of prion disease (chronic wasting disease). To do this, Bill 10 updates the Livestock Industry Diversification Act which regulates the licensing of diversified livestock farms – often cervids, like deer and elk. The justification for this change is largely cited as being about protection of the legalized game farming industry and the economic conditions these farms are facing.[1]
The most significant change to the Livestock Industry Diversification Act is the creation of harvest pastures or diversified livestock farms available for hunting. These are farms where cervids can be hunted within an enclosed area. To do this, the Bill includes new definitions for both ‘harvest’ and ‘harvest preserve’. Harvest is now defined as “to locate and kill or attempt to locate and kill a diversified livestock animal as a recreational experience” and harvest preserve is defined as “a place where live diversified livestock animals are kept or are to be kept for harvesting”.[2] There are few other details regarding the management of these harvest preserves although regulations can be made respecting the genetic composition of diversified livestock animals allowed or prohibited on diversified livestock farms; the movement of these animals; the transfer of meat or carcasses; and regarding the control of animal diseases.[3] Notably, there are restrictions on hunting any animal defined as big game or controlled animal under the Wildlife Act on a diversified livestock farm.[4]
This is not the first-time legislation of this type was proposed in Alberta. In 2002, then Premier Ralph Klein was faced with a similar proposal although he rejected the idea calling it “abhorrent”. At the time he argued that 85% of Albertans were opposed to the hunting of farmed cervids.[5] Today, despite the government’s decision to push this Bill forward, that number doesn’t seem to have changed significantly as a 2025 survey by the Alberta Wildlife Federation found that 72% of respondents were opposed to the legalization of ‘shoot farms’ – the name they use to refer to these harvest preserves.[6]
Chronic Wasting Disease
The implications for wild cervids in the province is the primary concern stemming from these changes. The most significant risk to wild populations of cervids comes from the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD). This is a transmissible spongiform encephalitis, similar to Mad Cow disease, and while generally transmitted through bodily fluids, “soil can also serve as a stable reservoir for infectious prion proteins” and these prions “remain infectious in the soils for many years.”[7] The management of CWD is difficult in part due to the long incubation periods (of up to several years) and the ability to shed infectious prion into the environment prior to the development of any symptoms.[8] Additionally, the risk of CWD is found to increase when cervid populations are contained as “close quarters and regular contact between animals increases the likelihood of transmission and makes controlling its spread difficult once introduced.”[9]
While the Act already requires operators to “make reasonable efforts” to ensure that animals on the farm are kept there and other animals are kept off, this is not an expectation of perfection.[10] Efforts are described as enclosures, pens, and handling facilities that are “so far as practicable” able to keep the wild and farmed populations separate.[11] These requirements have not been amended by Bill 10 despite the increased risks.
Terry Kreeger, Wyoming Game and Fish and Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/deer-chronic-wasting-disease
Another significant risk is the potential for CWD to pass from elk or deer to caribou should these diversified livestock farms be located near caribou range. Reindeer in Europe have already been infected with CWD and studies on Albertan caribou populations suggest that with current conditions, it is only a matter of time.[12] Decreased caribou ranges have made them more susceptible to contact with other cervids and with predators, who can shed CWD prions after consuming CWD-infected cervids.[13] As the ELC has written about numerous times, caribou in Alberta could not withstand the impacts of CWD as the herds across Alberta are facing significant declines and cannot naturally sustain themselves.[14] CWD infections, along with continued pressure on natural caribou ranges, would be catastrophic. Although a permit cannot be issued for a diversified livestock farm that is on land belonging to the Crown and under the administration of the Minister responsible for the Public Lands Act or Special Areas Act (within a special area constituted under that Act), there are no other restrictions on geographic location.[15] Without clear guidance in the Act or in accompanying regional plans (which are not complete), it is difficult to prevent an overlap between diversified livestock farms and wild species that overlap with existing caribou ranges.
Additionally, there is nothing in the Bill that introduces new testing requirements or clarifies how an increase in the number of diversified livestock farms will manage the increased risk of CWD.
Other Health Risks
Although CWD is perhaps one the most significant health risks, it is not the only disease associated with these farms. Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is another bacterial disease with some traits in common with CWD including that an animal can be infected for long periods of time without symptoms and that it can last in the ground long after an infected animal is gone.[16] Further, unlike CWD which has not yet been seen to move to humans, bovine TB can infect humans.[17] Bovine TB has been seen in elk, deer, cattle, and bison and has been found in both wild and captive populations in North America.[18] Again, there is nothing in the Act to clarify how they plan to manage the increased risks associated with a growing number of captive cervids and the spread of these diseases.
Socio-Political Challenges in Managing Culls
An additional challenge raised by issues around biosecurity efforts and legislation is the socio-political challenges around culls that are precautionary approach for managing outbreaks. As has been illustrated by recent days around the Ostrich farm and bird flu, the management response related to culls for outbreaks is increasingly being politicized, heightening risks related to these outbreaks and the regulatory response.
The Ethics of Wildlife Management: How we treat our wildlife on farms and off
There are clearly significant health risks associated with an increase in the number of cervids living in concentrated areas on these diversified livestock farms and while this may be the most pressing issue associated with this decision, it is not the only one. First, it is necessary to acknowledge that this type of penned or “canned” hunting is often decried by conservation-oriented hunters and anglers as unethical and is not in line with historical game management in the province.[19] These ethical concerns, alongside the increased health risks, support a continued prohibition on these canned hunts.
More broadly, as Alberta continues to grow and impact biodiversity, it is essential that we take a precautionary and preventative approach to maintaining biodiversity. In this regard, the province should be focused on mitigating risks not permitting new ones.
Although there may be economic benefits associated with the creation of harvest preserves or canned hunts, they must be assessed alongside any risks. The on-farm and beyond-the-fenceline risks, including further spread of CWD and other health issues, should be viewed within the broader context of long-term protection and restoration of biodiversity in the province.
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[1] Mrinali Anchan, “Alberta government slashing regulations for identification, international professionals, tourism, hunting” (17 Nov 2025) CBC News online: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-government-slashing-regulations-for-identification-international-professionals-tourism-hunting-9.6982342.
[2] Bill 10, RED TAPE REDUCTION STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2025 (NO. 2), 2nd Sess, 31st Leg (2025) at s 5(2) [Bill 10].
[3] Bill 10, s 33(1).
[4] Bill 10, s 14.
[5] Kevin Green, “UCP gov’t legalizing farmed elk and deer hunting on ‘harvest preserves’ with Bill 10’ (17 Nov 2025) CTV News online: https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/ucp-govt-legalizing-farmed-elk-and-deer-hunting-on-harvest-preserves-with-bill-10/.
[6] Alberta Wildlife Federation, “Press Release: 72% Opposed to Legalization of Shoot Farms” (10 Mar 2025) online: https://www.albertawildlifefederation.ca/news/albertans-oppose-legalization-of-shoot-farms.
[7] Alsu Kuznetsova et al., “Potential role of soil properties in the spread of CWD in western Canada” (Mar 2014) Prion 11;8(1):92-99 online: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7030902/.
[8] Jameson Mori, “A review of chronic wasting disease (CWD) spread, surveillance, and control in the United States captive cervid industry” (20 Sep 2023) Prion 18:1:54-67 online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/19336896.2024.2343220?needAccess=true [Jameson Mori].
[9] Jameson Mori at 55.
[10] Livestock Industry Diversification Act, RSA 2000, c L-17, s 13(2) [Livestock Industry Diversification Act].
[11] Livestock Industry Diversification Act, s 14.
[12] Maria Immaculata Arifin et al., “Large-scale prion protein genotyping in Canadian caribou populations and potential impact on chronic wasting disease susceptibility” (18 Aug 2020) Molecular Ecology 29:20, 3830-3840 online: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.15602 [Arifin].
[13] Arifin.
[14] See blogs from the ELC on caribou management here and here.
[15] Livestock Industry Diversification Act, s 6(3).
[16] V Wayne Lees, “Learning from outbreaks of bovine tuberculosis near Riding Mountain National Park: Applications to a foreign animal disease outbreak” (Jan 2004) Can Vet J 45(1):28-34 online: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC539224/.
[17] Despite not yet seeing CWD pass to humans, there is concern that it could have impacts on human health or eventually human transmission – see for example: Sushma Bhattarai et al., “Where we stand on chronic wasting disease: A systematic literature review of its prevalence patterns, impacts, and management interventions” (28 May 2024) Heliyon 28:10(11) online: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11190552/.
[18] Government of Canada, “Bovine Tuberculosis and Wildlife – Fact Sheet” online: https://inspection.canada.ca/en/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/diseases/reportable/bovine-tuberculosis/fact-sheet-wildlife.
[19] For examples of this opposition in Alberta see the Alberta Wildlife Federation’s article, “No!!! To Penned Shoots of Elk and Deer” (30 Jan 2025) online: https://www.albertawildlifefederation.ca/news/no-to-penned-shoots-of-elk-and-deer. For further discussion see: Erica von Essen & Michael Allen, “Killing with kindness: when hunters want to let you know they care” (28 Jul 2020) Human Dimensions of Wildlife Int J 26(2) 179-195 at 186 online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/10871209.2020.1800145?needAccess=true and the Boone and Crockett Club Position Statement – Canned Shoots online: https://www.boone-crockett.org/bc-position-statement-canned-shoots.