Question Period Note: Pesticides Program Transformation and Targeted Review of the Pest Control Products Act

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• On August 4, 2021, the Federal Government announced that it would begin consulting on specific provisions of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) to consider ways to strengthen PMRA’s oversight and protection of human health and the environment and increase transparency in the regulation of pesticides. In addition, the Federal Government announced a $50 million investment in Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)’s pest management research, to be supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
• This includes $42 million over three years to be invested in the PMRA to further strengthen its oversight and protection of human health and the environment. A further $7 million will be invested to AAFC, and $1 million to ECCC in supporting work, to accelerate the research, development and adoption of alternative pest management solutions.
• This investment supports Health Canada’s commitment set forth in the Minister of Health’s Mandate letter: To ensure Canadians are protected from risks associated with the use of pesticides and to better protect human health, wildlife and the environment, modernize and strengthen the Pest Control Products Act to ensure it supports transparency, use of independent scientific evidence and input to the decision-making process.
KEY MESSAGES
• The Government of Canada takes pesticide safety very seriously, and is strongly committed to making evidence-based scientific decisions. Pesticides are only approved for use in Canada after being thoroughly assessed to ensure no harm to human health or the environment will occur when used according to the label.
• Health Canada is implementing a Transformation Agenda to strengthen its oversight and protection of human health and the environment. This includes improving access to independent data, modernizing business processes, and improving transparency of the regulatory process and decision-making.
• Health Canada conducted extensive public consultations between March and June 2022. This feedback is being used to inform the targeted legislative review, as well as to inform various initiatives.
IF PRESSED ON FURTHER DETAILS ON THE SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE …
• To support the Transformation objective of increasing the use of independent advice, on June 27, 2022, Health Canada announced the membership of the new Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products (SAC-PCP) in Canada. The Committee is meeting regularly to provide independent scientific advice to further support PMRA’s evidence-based decisions on health and environmental risks and value assessments of pesticides.
• The Committee held its meetings in July, October and December 2022 and has provided helpful advice to the PMRA on specific scientific questions including on Maximum Residue Limits. The Committee will be asked to consider additional scientific questions in 2023.
IF PRESSED ON COP 15 AND/ OR TARGET 7 …
• The Government of Canada welcomes the adoption of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic global framework to safeguard nature and halt and reverse biodiversity loss and recognizes the importance of international collaboration in meeting these targets.
• The federal government is working to develop Canada’s implementation strategy to meet the goals and targets set out by the Framework, including Target 7, which is focused on reducing, by 2030, the pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources, including the reduction of risks from pesticides.
IF PRESSED ON WHETHER THE PROPOSED CHANGES UNDER THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (CEPA) WILL AFFECT THE PESTICIDES REGIME IN CANADA …
• The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) are complementary pieces of legislation that contribute to federal management of toxic substances to protect human health and the environment.
• While proposed amendments to CEPA have no direct legal implications for the PCPA, the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of policy, science and regulatory alignment.
• As part of the Transformation Agenda, HC is conducting a targeted review of the PCPA, which will help determine whether legislative changes to the PCPA and/or additional regulatory and policy measures are required to modernize and strengthen the pesticide regulatory system.

Oversight of Pesticides in Canada & Transformation
In Canada, all pesticides are subject to the federal Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) administered by Health Canada. Under the Act, pesticide products must be registered, or otherwise authorized, before they may be sold or used in Canada.

Before pesticides are approved, they must undergo a rigorous scientific assessment process, inclusive of hundreds of types of scientific studies, that provides reasonable certainty that no harm to human health and the environment will occur when it is used according to label directions.

On August 4, 2021, the Federal Government announced a $50 million investment in Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)’s pest management research, to be supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

To deliver on this commitment, the PMRA has established a Transformation Agenda, which focuses on four major areas: strengthen its oversight and protection of human health and the environment through modernized business processes. This includes increasing the availability of independent data and independent advice to better inform regulatory decision making, and improve transparency to increase the public’s understanding of the decision-making process for pesticides and a targeted review of the PCPA.

The Transformation agenda includes the creation of a new independent Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products in Canada (SAC-PCP). On January 27, 2022, Health Canada officially launched a call for nominations to create the new SAC-PCP. Nominations closed March 11, 2022, and the committee membership was announced on June 27, 2022. The committee held its first meeting in July, followed by meetings in October and December 2022

The role of the Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products is to provide scientific advice, as appropriate, to Health Canada’s PMRA to help inform evidence-based decisions on pesticides.

The Committee is a source of scientific advice for PMRA on specific issues related to pest control products, including on MRL processes, and other scientific questions.

In Spring 2022, PMRA launched consultations with a broad range of partners and stakeholders on a targeted review of the PCPA through a discussion document published on Canada.ca. A total of 121 written submissions were received. Additionally, over 40 meetings were held with partners and stakeholders, including meetings of the Transformation Steering Committee (TSC), technical working groups (TWG), public information sessions, and meetings on an ad-hoc basis with stakeholders.

Throughout these consultations, PMRA heard from a variety of groups – pesticide manufacturer associations, agricultural and non-agricultural pesticide users, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, Indigenous organizations, the provinces and territories, foreign jurisdictions, including the United States, Australia and the European Union, and the general public.

This consultation concluded on June 30, 2022, followed by extensive review of the feedback received to inform the path forward on pesticides. The ‘What We Heard’ report, published on November 1, 2022, provides an overview of what PMRA heard through the consultation. As such, it is intended to reflect the views of respondents as they were expressed and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada, the existing legislative framework in the PCPA or the operational practices of PMRA.

The Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework n December 2022, the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Montréal concluded negotiations. The COP 15 adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), including four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030. Target 7 focuses on reducing pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources, by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity, including reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half. The Government of Canada is developing an implementation strategy to reach this target.

Legislative Frameworks
In February 2022, the Government introduced in the Senate Bill S-5: Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) to better protect Canadians and their environment. While proposed amendments to CEPA have no direct legal implications for the PCPA, CEPA partners strive for policy, science and regulatory alignment. As part of transforming the PMRA, HC has conducted a targeted review of the PCPA which will help determine whether legislative changes to the PCPA and/or any regulatory and policy measures are required to modernize and strengthen the regulatory system

• Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is undergoing a transformation process that will strengthen its oversight and its protection of human health and the environment. The transformation process will ensure the pesticide review process meets the expectations of Canadians in the areas of transparency and sustainability.
• Transformation is underway in four major areas: improved transparency; increased use of real-world data and independent advice; strengthened human health and environmental protection through modernized business processes; and a targeted review of the Pest Control Products Act.
• The targeted legislative review will help the PMRA determine if any legislative changes to the PCPA are required to modernize and strengthen the regulatory system on issues like transparency, modernized business processes and the use of real-world data and independent advice.
• Between March 21 and June 30, 2022, Health Canada consulted on specific elements of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) through the discussion paper: Further Strengthening Protection of Health and the Environment: Targeted Review of the Pest Control Products Act.
• On November 1, 2022, Health Canada published a ‘What We Heard’ report for the Targeted Review of the PCPA. This report summarizes input from a broad range of stakeholders on the recent consultations regarding the Transformation Agenda and will inform the path forward on pesticides.
• Health Canada is currently taking into consideration all feedback received to inform the targeted legislative review, as well as to inform various policy and regulatory initiatives currently underway and potential additional measures.