It is of key importance with any information delivery system that it effectively communicate that information to the recipient. A worker handling dangerous products must be able to quickly consult information on hazards, precautions and first aid. It was thus agreed that information required to be disclosed on the container of a WHMIS controlled product should be grouped together and enclosed within a distinctive border. The use of a border was originally conceived to make a distinction between "controlled" and "uncontrolled" products and thereby facilitate recognition in the workplace.

"Designed as depicted" means that:

• the corners on the border should be square;
• the border hash marks, as shown in the Schedule, should slant in alternate directions on portions of the border that are perpendicular to each other;
• there should be no words written on the border; and
• the border should be of sufficient thickness to easily distinguish the information inside it with other information on the container.

During the development of WHMIS, the original stakeholder representatives had agreed that "to avoid confusion with other information on a container, e.g., TDG Regulations, the WHMIS label information must be clearly distinguishable from, and not in conflict with, other printed information on the container. More specifically: the WHMIS label information would be within a distinctive border".

When interpreting a law, the court will look at the purpose of a law and will not interpret it so restrictively as to defeat the purpose of that law. In other words, if a certain interpretation would defeat the purpose of the law, the court will reject it. This principle is found at section 12 of the Interpretation Act, which states that:

The "object" of the WHMIS border is to enable users to distinguish between information required by the CPR from information that is not. The IWCC position is that information not required by the CPR shall not be placed within the WHMIS supplier label border; {ref.: IWCC Policy Paper No. 3}.

Subsection 20(2), which was added through Amendment No. 1 to the CPR, provides an exemption from applying the WHMIS label border for a controlled product originating from a laboratory supply house, intended for use in a laboratory and packaged in a container in a quantity of less than 10 kilograms.¹ This exemption is still subject to the requirement that the label on these controlled products includes applicable risk phrases, precautionary measures and first aid measures. The exception permitted for products originating from a laboratory supply house and being used in a laboratory recognizes that persons working in laboratories are typically better informed about the hazards of products used in laboratory settings; {ref.: PIS No.26}.

In some cases, products are packaged in containers which have two principal display panels (PDPs); one panel is labelled in English while the other displays the equivalent information in French. Where a separate PDP is used for each official language, the supplier has the option of disclosing the prescribed information in English only on the English panel and in French only on the French panel or the supplier may disclose the French and English versions of the label information on both panels. Where a separate English and French label is used, however, all required hazard symbols must be disclosed on both. In the case where there is only one PDP, all of the information required to be disclosed on the WHMIS label must appear on this PDP in English and French within a single WHMIS border or within a separate WHMIS border for English and for French; {ref.: PIS No.31}.