January 2009

The proposed new Canada Consumer Product Safety Act is a key component of Canada's Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan. The Plan is a comprehensive set of new measures to help make Canadians safer by strengthening and modernizing the legislative framework that regulates food, health and consumer products. Closer co-operation with both suppliers and consumers is also a key component. Budget 2008 provided $113 million over two years for the Action Plan to encourage collaboration, strengthen safety programs, and replace outdated laws with new legislation.

The proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act would replace Part I of the Hazardous Products Act and introduce a new regulatory regime. The proposed new Act focuses on the following three key areas:

Working to Address Problems Before They Happen
The Government will introduce new safety obligations that suppliers will be required to meet while also providing guidance to suppliers on building and improving safety throughout their supply chains with a renewed focus on prevention.

While the Government recognizes that most suppliers of consumer products act responsibly to ensure the health and safety of Canadians, the proposed legislation introduces a general prohibition against the manufacture, importation, advertisement or sale of consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to human health or safety. It strengthens compliance promotion and enforcement activities through increased fines up to $5,000,000 for some offences, and fines that are left to the discretion of the courts where the offence is committed with knowledge or recklessly.

The Action Plan calls for the Government to work closely with suppliers to help them identify and systematically assess safety risks, develop standards and share best practices. To further promote awareness of the new legislation, guidance will be provided to suppliers through workshops and training.

As well, Health Canada will provide more accurate, relevant and credible information to consumers to enable them to make informed choices. For example, consumers would be provided with education material on topics such as: the selection and safe use of products; choosing age-appropriate toys; the understanding and use of product labels; and warnings and instructions for safe use.

Targeting the Highest Risks
Government will be able to keep a closer watch on products where risks may not yet be fully understood or that pose the greatest potential hazard to the public. For example, the proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act will provide the authority to require suppliers to conduct safety tests upon a Minister's orders and provide the results where there are indications of a problem. The proposed legislation will also require suppliers to notify Health Canada of serious adverse incidents/defects and for their upstream suppliers to provide detailed reports regarding those incidents.

Rapid Response
The proposed legislation will allow the government to take more immediate responsive action to protect the public when a problem occurs. For example, the legislation would authorize inspectors to order mandatory recalls and other corrective measures to address unsafe consumer products. It would also require suppliers to maintain accurate records to enable quick tracking of products requiring recall.

To further improve the government's ability to respond effectively to health and safety risks, Health Canada would double the number of product safety inspectors.

Further Actions on Product Safety
These new authorities and requirements do not replace the need to develop and implement measures for particular product lines or hazards, but instead provide a safety net for consumer products in general. The Government of Canada will continue its efforts to protect the health and safety of Canadians by developing new regulations, including those on lead and phthalates in consumer products, together with suppliers and other stakeholders.