In Canada, promotion of the Three Rs concept of alternatives occurs largely through the Canadian Council on Animal Care. Institution-based animal care committees are required to conduct an ethical review of all protocols which use animals in research, teaching or testing. Investigators are expected to use animals only when their best efforts to find an alternative have failed. Those using animals are required to employ the most humane methods on the smallest number of animals possible. The Joseph F. Morgan Research Foundation was established to promote the development and use of alternative methods in Canada. The focus of the Foundation has been on the use of alternative methods for testing purposes. However, the Foundation also encourages the acceptance of each of the Three Rs throughout Canadian science. The Foundation is therefore in the process of developing a refinement alternatives programme.