Canada Mink Breeders Association (CMB)

Related Pages:

• History of the CMB

Canada Mink Breeders Association was constituted in 1952 as a non-profit organization with a mandate to assist, protect and advance the industry in Canada and to advance and promote the end product in both national and international fields.

All provinces, except Saskatchewan, support provincial mink associations, which are affiliated with CMBA. CMBA operates through a board of directors, along with directors-at-large, elected from among all provincial associations. The president of CMBA is elected annually from the board of directors and may serve for a maximum of two years. The business of the organization functions through several committees each chaired by a director:

• Advertising and promotion (North American Fur Association)
• Ecology
• Finance and administration
• Government liaison
• Legislative
• Marketing
• Membership and education
• Research

The head office is located in Toronto. Income is generated through a levy deducted from members pelts sold through North American Fur Auctions (NAFA).Currently there are about 250 active members from coast-to-coast. The consignment of pelts to North American Fur Auctions (NAFA) and the subsequent payment of the levy of are the only prerequisites of membership in CMBA.

Our association assists ranchers through an active research committee in developing scientific feeding and breeding techniques. The development of vaccines for mink enteritis and pseudomonas as well as the counter-immuno-electrophoresis test for Aleutian Disease were initiated by CMBA and are just two of its many achievements that have helped the industry to progress and prosper.

From inception to the present, CMBA has continued to expand its role as circumstances indicated. From a situation where mink were kept in small numbers as a hobby or as an additive to conventional agriculture, the industry grew and began to develop the infrastructure of feed supplies, equipment dealers, fur auction companies and organizations.

In 1984, CMBA spearheaded the development of a "Recommended code of practice for the care and handling of mink". This activity demonstrated a leadership role in animal welfare in general and the humane care and handling of mink in particular.

In 1987, the fur auction management of Hudson's Bay Fur Sales Canada Inc. offered CMBA and Canada Fox Breeders Assoc. a majority shareholder position in the buyout of the Corporate Bay's interest. Subsequently, a holding company, North American Fur Producers Inc. (NAFPI), was activated to purchase the initial block of stock with options to purchase additional shares. There are now four producer shareholders: American Mink Council, Canada Fox Breeders Assoc., Canada Mink Breeders Association and NAFA-Wild Fur Shippers Council. 

Mink are raised in almost all provinces in Canada with the largest producing provinces being Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia.

Currently, Canada produces approximately 1.7 million mink, which is about 3 per cent of world production.