Beaver Fever
By Don Gillmor
Published originally in the March/April 2025 edition of the Legion magazine
The beaver became Canada’s national symbol on March 24, 1975, when the National Symbol of Canada Act received royal assent. Though castor canadensis was already a de facto emblem, found on ancient totem poles, featured on the nation’s first postage stamp, issued in 1851, and appearing on various coats of arms (Manitoba’s, Alberta’s and Toronto’s, among others).
From a European perspective, the fur trade was the foundation of the country, and the beaver was the foundation of the fur trade. Europeans came to the land that would become Canada looking for gold that never materialized, a passage to the East that remained elusive, and settled finally, on the beaver. They kept moving further west in search of new pelts, and outposts of the Hudson’s Bay Company gradually turned into towns and cities.
Still, it was a long, uncertain road to official national symbol and the beaver remains unpopular in some quarters. In 2011, Conservative senator Nicole Eaton, whose cottage dock was stubbornly occupied by beavers, said the emblem was “a dentally defective rat” and “a 19th century has-been.”
She had a point. The beaver is a rodent, the largest in Canada, and second largest in the world (next to the capybara). Still, the rodent family isn’t one of nature’s most distinguished. And it is a has-been, fur-wise. The beaver hat was popular for more than 200 years, one of the most remarkable runs in fashion history. But in 1824, the silk hat was introduced. It took 20 years for the silk headwear to really catch on, but by the middle of the 19th century, the beaver topper was the fashion equivalent of bell bottoms with a peace symbol on them, the fur trade was in decline and the beaver almost extinct.
Senator Eaton argued that the beaver should be replaced by the majestic polar bear. She isn’t the first to feel a national symbol was a mistake. Benjamin Franklin argued that America’s national emblem, the bald eagle, “is a Bird of bad moral character.” He argued that the goofy, outsized wild turkey was “a much more respectable Bird” and would have been a better choice.
As a symbol, the beaver has certain strengths though. It’s found in every region of the country, so it’s politically acceptable. And like many Canadians, the beaver is industrious and lacks a dental plan (their teeth are orange because of an iron-rich coating). It’s a keystone species because it can shape the landscape, which then accommodates other species, roughly in line with Canada’s immigration policies.
Environmentally, it means well (contributing to biodiversity by providing habitat for other species), but is also destructive (its dams can result in flooded farmland), a stance that matches the typical government approach.
The polar bear is a glorious mammal, visually striking, its cubs adorable. But it’s an apex predator and, from a geopolitical standpoint, Canada isn’t. Canadians are hewers of wood and drawers of water, and what personifies that better than the beaver?
