UPDATED: February 26, 2025 – 1640 CST – to add comments from Health Canada.
WINNIPEG — Canada has a regulation problem.
The country ranks 32 out of 38 member countries for administrative and regulatory burden, says the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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That ranking comes from a 2023-24 update on market regulation indications from OECD, an international organization that advises governments on policies that “support resilient, inclusive and sustainable growth.”
In its report, the OECD says Canada should “reduce the administrative and regulatory burden imposed on businesses.”
CropLife Canada, which represents plant science companies and manufacturers of pesticides, is also worried about excessive regulations in Canada.
CropLife is especially concerned that Health Canada’s “transformation” of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency will only add to the regulatory burden and prevent companies from registering crop protection products in Canada.
“The PMRA’s current direction threatens to cripple the regulatory system and drive innovation out of Canada, without any benefits for health and environmental protection,” says a CropLife letter sent to the federal deputy health minister Jan. 29.
Pierre Petelle, president and chief executive of CropLife, said the PMRA began its transformation about four years ago.
In August of 2021, prior to the federal election, the government announced it was reversing a planned increase to the maximum residue limits for certain pesticides.
The change of direction surprised crop protection companies because the government seemingly caved to external pressure.
“The PMRA was being criticized a little bit in the (Quebec) media,” said Petelle, referring to the summer of 2021.
Instead of pushing back and standing up for Canada’s regulatory system, Health Canada relented and began to reform how the PMRA operates, Petelle said.
Nearly four years later, with another election on the horizon, Health Canada is hoping to implement the changes. The department defines the transformation by four pillars:
- Improved transparency.
- Increased use of real-world data and independent advice.
- Strengthened human health and environmental protection.
- Review of the Pest Control Products Act.
Transparency, real world data and independent advice sounds reasonable, but CropLife is worried about specific changes.
The PMRA is looking at evaluating the safety of pesticides by studying the cumulative effects of multiple pesticides, Petelle said.
If the PMRA is assessing a new fungicide, it would look at the residues of that product and how it might combine with other pesticide exposure to increase the health risk to an individual.
“It’s almost a scientific impossibility (to do that),” Petelle said.
“No regulator in the world, currently, has a cumulative risk assessment.”
The PMRA is also proposing to increase the fees for pesticide manufacturers when they register or re-register a product.
CropLife agrees the industry should pay its share, but the PMRA is proposing a 250 per cent increase, Petelle said.
If imposed, keeping products registered in Canada will become more expensive than in the United States.
“We see it as a disincentive, for both large and small companies, to come to Canada.”
That disincentive is real.
Some companies with headquarters in Canada are choosing to commercialize their new products in the U.S.
“There’s a lot of frustration among early-stage companies with the lack of a predictable regulatory path for new technologies in Canada,” said Darren Anderson, chief executive officer of Vive Crop Protection, which has its head office in Toronto.
“The biggest reason we chose to go into the U.S. (first) … was that the regulatory system was set up in such a way that a new technology was easier to define the regulatory path.”
CropLife is urging the government to change course as soon as possible because Canada could soon be in a trade and tariff war with the U.S.
“Now is not the time to add additional unnecessary layers of regulatory burden,” says CropLife’s recent letter to Health Canada.
In an email, a Health Canada spokesperson said the PMRA’s transformation is “vital to protecting the health of Canadians and the environment while supporting innovation and access to safe and effective pest control products for the agricultural sector.”
“At every step in the process, the agency has and will continue to engage with all interested stakeholders. The complexity of PMRA’s work has increased and it is important that the PMRA review process ensures long-term sustainability. (The) focus remains on ensuring an effective, science-based regulatory system that protects the health of Canadians and the environment, while achieving operational efficiency and improving public transparency.”
Contact robert.arnason@produer.com
