Canada has made a further step to a complete ban on asbestos in the country. Whilst Canada’s final mines ceased production in 2011, asbestos has continued to be imported in products from other countries. In December 2016, the Ottawa Government launched a strategy to ban asbestos and products containing it by 2018. This ban will apply to the manufacture of any products containing asbestos as well as imports.

Mining first began in Canada in the 1850’s when the first Chrysotile deposits were found in Thetford, Quebec. 58 other countries, including the UK, have already taken the lead and introduced a complete ban on asbestos manufacture, importation and mining.

A Canadian public health campaign reports asbestos exposure as the primary cause of occupational death in the country. Figures suggest that since 1996, asbestos related disease has accounted for one third of all workplace deaths. Figures also demonstrate that deaths from mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused exclusively from asbestos exposure, increased by sixty percent between 2000 and 2012. Some experts also estimate that 150,000 Canadians are exposed to asbestos at work.

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