By: Carol Baldwin
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wakaw Recorder
Update: Thursday, October 22nd, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it was rescinding the decision and the testing program will continue for this hunting season as in previous years.
With the 2026 hunting season already underway, the Government of Saskatchewan’s decision to terminate its Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Surveillance Program effective October 31, 2026, blindsided hunters and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF). A bulletin on the province’s website announced the program’s elimination at the end of this month.
After decades of testing, research and hunter participation, the decision removes an important tool for monitoring a disease that continues to threaten Saskatchewan’s wildlife, a statement from the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) read. According to SWF figures, the provincial wildlife testing program costs approximately $450,000 annually, with more than $300,000 coming from the Fish and Wildlife Development Fund (FWDF), which receives a portion of hunting and angling licence revenues. The SWF called for its immediate reinstatement.
“Hunters have spent years submitting samples and supporting efforts to better understand CWD,” said Darrell Crabbe, SWF Executive Director. “Ending this program undermines that work and leaves hunters with fewer resources to make informed decisions about the animals they harvest. Hunters and anglers already contribute millions of dollars each year through their licence purchases,” he added. “Continuing to invest a portion of those dollars in CWD testing is a reasonable expectation. Saskatchewan’s wildlife deserves sustained attention, and hunters deserve access to a program they help fund.”
CWD was first detected in Saskatchewan in a farmed elk in 1996 and in wild deer in 2000. Saskatchewan became the first province to detect the disease in wild deer and remains at the centre of a serious wildlife health challenge. Alberta and Manitoba also operate surveillance programs to monitor the disease and guide their response.
Don Gordon, president of the Saskatchewan Trappers Association, said last Thursday, after the termination of the program became evident, that the move could lead to less hunting, because hunters might not want to eat untested meat. “(Another) concern that I might hear from our organization would be how much of these animals or how many of these are going to be dumped because of the uncertainty.”
The Government of Saskatchewan also does not provide compensation for big game meat that is considered inedible, and therefore, should a hunting license holder choose not to hunt due to this change, the government will not provide refunds. Hunters who are uncomfortable eating untested meat have other options available, the government bulletin notes, such as not hunting at all, gifting the meat to another person, or feeding the meat, once it is thoroughly cooked, to pets.
Gordon said if the decision results in more hunters leaving animals to rot on the land, it could also result in the increased spread of the disease. “If these carcasses of these animals are all of a sudden starting to be moved from one area to the other, it is a known way of expanding the range of this disease,” he said.
Testing provides information about where CWD occurs and how its prevalence changes over time. Ending surveillance, the SWF says, will reduce the information available to hunters, researchers and wildlife managers working to understand and respond to the disease.
The Government of Canada’s recommendation is for people not to consume any part of an animal that has tested positive for CWD. Information from the Saskatchewan government says it will not offer a fee-for-service testing option, and the ministry is not currently aware of any commercial laboratories that offer private, direct-to-consumer testing for CWD in wildlife.