Department of Tourism and Culture

Exporting fossils

Wooly mammoth

Exporting fossils (including bones of Ice Age Mammals) or ivory (mammoth, mastodon) from either Yukon or Canada requires a permit. A permit to export fossils from Yukon can be obtained by contacting the Yukon Palaeontology Program.

Exporting fossils from Canada requires a federal Cultural Property Export and Import Permit obtained from Canada Border Services (information below).

Permits to export fossil bones are generally issued only to qualified researchers and institutions for temporary study or exhibit. The exception is fossil mammoth and mastodon ivory. A Cultural Property Export and Import Permit may be obtained to export fossil ivory from Canada for commercial and artistic use.

Procedure for obtaining Cultural Property Export and Import Permit

There is a three-step procedure for obtaining a Cultural Property Export and Import Permit. The process usually can be completed in one day.

1. Contact the Canadian Border Services (formerly Canada Customs) Office in Whitehorse to obtain a permit application. Bring a duplicate set of photos of the ivory, a copy of the receipt for its purchase, and information on where it was found. These will be attached to the application and not returned, so save your originals:

Canada Border Services Agency (Whitehorse)
Telephone: (867) 667-3943

2. Border Services will take your application to a certified expert examiner of cultural properties or will give you permission to do so yourself. The examiner will review the photos and application and may request to see the ivory. Since the ivory must be made available for inspection if requested, it is best to have the ivory with you. Otherwise, your application may be delayed.

If the examiner determines that the ivory is of minimal scientific value relative to its commercial and artistic value, then he/she will recommend approval of the permit. You will need to provide information such as the location where the ivory was found. Otherwise, the examiner will not be able to determine its value and may recommend the permit be rejected.

There are two certified expert examiners for cultural properties in Yukon, both in the Department of Tourism and Culture:

Grant Zazula (Yukon Paleontologist)

Jeff Hunston (Manager of Heritage Resources Unit)

3. The application is returned to Border Services with the appropriate signatures and recommendation from the expert examiner. Border Services makes the final decision whether the permit is approved or rejected.