As early as 2011, the City of Toronto attempted unsuccessfully to regulate the possession, consumption or sale of shark fins and shark fin food products. The City's By-law was struck down in 2012.
In 2019, Canada joined in shark protection efforts by amending the federal Fisheries Act to include a ban on shark finning, and a prohibition on the import and export of shark fins absent a permit.
In early 2022, Canada enforced against the practice of unlawfully importing shark fins without a permit, demonstrating Canada's commitment to shark protection. On January 17, 2022, a British Columbia trading company was federally prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to pay a $75,000 fine after pleading guilty to unlawfully importing fins of a protected shark species without a permit.
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