Pesticides

Proposed amendments would end mandatory post-market re-evaluation of pesticide health and environmental risks
Canada’s pesticide regulatory system is facing a major change that could leave older pesticide decisions in place even as scientific evidence evolves. Amendments to Canada’s Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) buried in the government’s second budget bill, Bill C-31, Division 13, would remove the mandatory requirement for the cyclical re-evaluation of registered pesticides.

Re-evaluations are the primary mechanism for comprehensive, post-market review of pesticide risks. Removing that requirement would fundamentally weaken federal oversight of pesticides and the PCPA’s purpose of preventing unacceptable risks to human health and the environment.

The David Suzuki Foundation, along with health and environmental organizations including Safe Food Matters, has issued a September 2026 briefing note titled “Silent Spring” Provisions in Bill C-31 Gut Federal Pesticide Protections, calling on parliamentarians to reject the amendments.
Why mandatory pesticide re-evaluations matter
The requirement for the Health Minister to initiate a …Read More

Canada’s pesticide oversight system is facing a major change, and the clock is ticking.
Bill C-31, the government’s second budget implementation bill, would fundamentally change how registered pesticides are reviewed in Canada.

Under the current Pest Control Products Act (PCPA), Health Canada is required to initiate a re-evaluation of registered pesticides on a 15-year cycle. Bill C-31 would replace that mandatory re-evaluation with an assessment based on “available information” to determine whether the health or environmental risks of a pesticide have increased significantly. A full re-evaluation would then be required only if Health Canada determines there are reasonable grounds to believe the risks have increased significantly.

That is a significant shift.

Regular re-evaluations provide an important opportunity to reassess pesticides as scientific knowledge, exposure patterns, environmental conditions and pesticide uses change. Health Canada itself describes re-evaluations as part of its post-market oversight system for determining whether registered pesticides continue to meet current health, environmental …Read More

Amendments buried in Bill C-30 weaken environmental protections
JUNE 17, 2026 — OTTAWA | TRADITIONAL AND UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHINAABE NATION — Public interest organizations denounce amendments to Canada’s Pest Control Products Act included in the government’s omnibus financial bill, as Bill C-30 moves to the final vote in the House of Commons. The bill is being expedited through Parliament, after motions passed earlier this week curtailing debate and amendments.

The changes to Canada’s pesticide law in Bill C-30, along with others introduced in a separate budget implementation bill (C-31), represent the largest overhaul of Canada’s pesticide regulatory system in a generation. This comes as the government is also proposing to weaken key environmental standards under the Species at Risk Act and Impact Assessment Act. A broad coalition of organizations concerned with protecting human health and the environment, advocates for evidence-informed decision-making, and independent scientists have called for the pesticide act amendments to be …Read More

Canada’s proposed pesticide reforms move in the wrong direction.

By Bruce Lanphear
The following essay was published on May 22 as an OpEd in The Hill Times, a widely read independent newspaper in Ottawa that covers Parliament, federal politics, and public policy. It comes at a moment when Canada is beginning to rethink how it regulates toxic chemicals and pesticides.

While the United States allows the sale of chlorpyrifos and paraquat, Canada banned chlorpyrifos in 2023 and discontinued paraquat shortly afterward. These decisions reflect a growing recognition that some chemicals once considered acceptable carry costs that are measured not only in crop yields, but in children’s brains, chronic disease, and the long-term health of communities.

For more than half a century, pesticides like chlorpyrifos and paraquat were used in Canada under regulations that were supposed to protect human health. Yet one is now known to damage children’s brains, while the other increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease. If …Read More

Safe Food Matters joins other health, environmental, legal and agricultural organizations urging the federal government to remove proposed amendments to the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) from Bill C-30 and Bill C-31.
The groups warn that the changes weaken scientific and democratic accountability. They weaken Canada’s pesticide oversight system, reduce independent scientific scrutiny, and give politicians greater influence over decisions traditionally guided by scientific evidence. 
The PCPA is the federal law that governs how pesticides are assessed, registered and regulated in Canada. Since 2002, the PCPA has been guided by a core principle: pesticides should only be approved when it has been shown with scientific evidence that NO HARM would arise to people, the environment or future generations from their use.
The amendments proposed in Bills C-30 and C-31 would represent the most significant overhaul of Canada’s pesticide regulatory framework in a generation. 

What Would Change?
Among the most concerning proposals:

Bill C-30: Allows Political Whims to …Read More

Proposed federal amendments could shift Canada’s food safety priorities toward trade and affordability concerns.

Safe Food Matters is raising concerns over the federal government’s plan to amend key food safety legislation to include “food security and cost of food” as factors in regulatory decisions, warning the move could weaken longstanding health protections for Canadians.
The proposed changes, outlined in the federal government’s spring economic update and detailed in a recent Canadian Press report, would amend both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act and the Pest Control Products Act. While Ottawa says the amendments are intended to support affordability and food security, critics warn the language suggests a broader shift toward prioritizing trade and industry interests over public health protections.

A Department of Finance official stated that the government remains committed to safeguarding the environment and protecting the health and safety of Canadians, adding that further details will be provided once legislative amendments are …Read More