The story of fur, however, begins long before the pelts arrive on the designer’s table. As we all learned in school, the roots of the Canadian fur trade run deep. It was the search for beaver that drove Europeans to explore this vast continent, and many of our cities began as fur-trading posts. Even our border with the United States reflects territories staked out by competing fur companies in their dash for the Pacific Ocean.

It is less well known that fur is still important for many Canadians today. The trade supports the livelihoods and cultures of some 80,000 trappers, farmers, auctioneers, processors, designers, manufacturers and retail furriers. Fur contributes $800 million to the Canadian economy annually, including more than $450 million in exports. After hard times during the recession of the early ‘nineties, the value of Canadian fur exports has more than doubled over the past decade.

Fur still generates one of the few sources of income for many people living in remote regions. Beaver, muskrat and other fur animals also provide food for aboriginal and other Canadians. Meat not eaten by trappers and their families is returned to the woods to feed hungry wildlife through the winter. As Amerindian traditions require, nothing is wasted.

Trapping is used almost everywhere in the world to keep wildlife populations in balance with available habitat, and to protect farmland, forests and other property. Canada, however, is the undisputed leader in humane trapping. “Research conducted by the Fur Institute of Canada provided the scientific basis for the new Agreement on International Humane Trap Standards, signed by Canada and the European Union,” says FIC chairman Bruce Williams. “Trappers take courses to learn the new methods before they can obtain their permits.” For more information about the Agreement on International Humane Trap Standards, click here.

Fur trapping in Canada is strictly regulated by the provincial and territorial governments. Endangered species are never used. And because trappers take only part of the surplus produced by nature each year, the fur trade is an excellent example of what ecologists call “sustainable use of renewable natural resources”. The sustainable use of wildlife is endorsed by the World Conservation Union and other environmental groups because it supports people who have a direct interest in protecting wilderness habitat.

“Trappers are our ‘eyes and ears’ on the land; they are often the first to sound the alarm when wildlife habitat is threatened by industrial pollution or poorly-planned development projects,” says Pierre Canac-Marquis, coordinator of trapping for the Quebec Department of Environment & Wildlife.