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Canada’s Canadian Biosafety Standard (CBS), 2nd Edition, 2015, is a harmonized national standard for the handling or storing of human and terrestrial animal pathogens and toxins in Canada.

This guideline describes the general recommendations and considerations for basic laboratory design and the safe handling of RG1 biological material; these recommended practices are risk-and evidence-based. The physical design features and operational practices for CL1 zones described in this document are considered best practices for work involving RG1 pathogens.

In Canada, facilities where Risk Group 2, 3, and 4 human pathogens or toxins are handled and stored are regulated by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA) and the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR). The importation of animal pathogens, infected animals, animal products or by-products (e.g., tissue, serum), or other substances that may carry an animal pathogen or parts thereof (e.g., toxin) are regulated by the PHAC or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under the Health of Animals Act (HAA) and Health of Animals Regulations (HAR).

"In Canada, facilities that handle or store Risk Group 2 (RG2), RG3, and RG4 human pathogens or toxins are regulated by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA) and the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR). The importation of animal pathogens, infected animals, animal products or by-products (e.g., tissue, serum), or other substances that may carry an animal pathogen or a part of one (e.g., toxin) are regulated by the PHAC or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under the Health of Animals Act (HAA) and Health of Animals Regulations (HAR). In Canada, facilities that handle or store Risk Group 2 (RG2), RG3, and RG4 human pathogens or toxins are regulated by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA) and the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR). The importation of animal pathogens, infected animals, animal products or by-products (e.g., tissue, serum), or other substances that may carry an animal pathogen or a part of one (e.g., toxin) are regulated by the PHAC or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under the Health of Animals Act (HAA) and Health of Animals Regulations (HAR).

In Canada, facilities where Risk Group 2, 3, and 4 human pathogens or toxins are handled and stored are regulated by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA) and the Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR). The importation of animal pathogens, infected animals, animal products or by-products (e.g., tissue, serum), or other substances that may carry an animal pathogen or toxin or parts thereof are regulated by the PHAC or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under the Health of Animals Act (HAA) and Health of Animals Regulations (HAR).

"The Canadian Biosafety Guidelines have been developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as an ongoing series of biosafety and biosecurity themed guidance documents. In Canada, most facilities where human and terrestrial animal pathogens or toxins are handled and stored are regulated by the PHAC and the CFIA under the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA), Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR), Health of Animals Act (HAA), and Health of Animals Regulations (HAR). Regulated facilities are required to develop and maintain a biosecurity plan, in accordance with the requirements established in the Canadian Biosafety Standard (CBS), 2nd Edition. The Canadian Biosafety Handbook (CBH), 2nd Edition aims to provide stakeholders with support and guidance on how to conduct biosecurity risk assessments and the core components of a robust biosecurity plan to appropriately address biosecurity risks with the pathogens and toxins in their possession.

This biosafety directive is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the risk assessment outcomes, subsequent containment level decisions, and considerations that have been made for those working with MTBC. It describes the activities and MTBC sample types that can be handled at CL2 with additional physical containment and operational practices. The Biosafety Directive for MTBC is to be used in conjunction with the CBS.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) are examples of RG3 pathogens where the pathogen risk and CL assessments have been revisited by the Agency in conjunction with HIV/HTLV specialists based on current risks associated with activities involving these pathogens. It has been determined that HIV & HTLV-1 can be safely handled at CL2/CL2-Ag with specific additional operational requirements (see Section 4.0). This Biosafety Directive is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the risk assessment outcomes, subsequent CL decisions, and considerations that have been made for those working with HIV and HTLV-1. The Biosafety Directive for HIV and HTLV-1 is to be used in conjunction with the CBSG.

The Canada Communicable Disease Report is a bilingual, open-access, peer-reviewed journal on the prevention and control of emerging and persistent infectious diseases.

The dataset includes a searchable list of biological agents with their associated biological agent type, risk group decisions, and other regulatory information.