Public Engagement Portal forms

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s (PMRA) Information Service answers general inquiries related to products regulated under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA).

Please note that correspondences related to submission of incident report, complaints, comments on major registration decisions, such as new registrations or major new uses of a pesticide, re-evaluations or special reviews, notice of objection, or inspection of confidential test data (CTD) should be addressed using specific forms available in the portal.

Provision of the information requested on this form is voluntary. The information is being collected for the purpose of responding to your query/comments, and to improve our Internet suite of products and services. Personal information that you provide is protected under the provisions of the Privacy Act.

All pesticides are tested and evaluated for safety before being registered for use by Canadians. To continue to monitor for safety after they are registered, Health Canada collects pesticide incident reports from Canadians.

If you are a pesticide registrant or applicant, please consult the Mandatory Pesticide Incident Reporting for Registrants and Applicants section.

What is a pesticide incident?

A pesticide incident is a negative effect to humans, animals or the environment that can result from being exposed to a pesticide. Common types of pesticide incidents include:

• Effects to humans (e.g. skin rash or headache),
• Effects to a pet or a farm animal (e.g. vomiting), or even
• Effects to the environment (e.g. dead fish or birds)

Why do I need to report pesticide incidents?

Health Canada is in charge of registering pesticides in Canada. Reporting problems helps Health Canada identify possible unexpected issues. For example, if an issue related to the eyes is identified with the use of a pesticide, Health Canada may add a condition to the product label requiring the use of protective glasses.

How do I report a pesticide incident?

You do not have to be certain that a pesticide caused the effect in order to report it. Health Canada will not contact your employer.

There are two ways you can report a pesticide incident:

1. Contact the pesticide company as listed on the product label. They are required by law to report all incidents related to their products to Health Canada.
   or
   
   
2. Report the incident directly to Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency via our Public Engagement Portal Voluntary Incident Reporting Form. The form included in the portal allows you to report on the following:
   • Human Health Incident
   • Domestic Animal Incident
   • Environmental Incident
   
   A Packaging Incident form can be requested directly from the PMRA's Information Service.

For help in filling out the forms, please contact our Pest Management Information Service. Refer to these definitions for further information.

What happens to the information I submit?

All pesticide incident reports submitted to us are made available to the public on our website through our Public Registry. Personal information is removed from a report before it is posted.

How does Health Canada use the information?

We use all available information to assess if the pesticide was the cause of the reported effect. If so, we assess what the risk to Canadians is and how similar incidents can be prevented. We do this by attempting to answer these questions:

• When and how did exposure happen?
• Are the effects expected?
• How many other incidents of this kind have been reported?
• How complete is the information in the report?
• Was the product used according to the label instructions?
• Is the product used a lot in Canada?

Health Canada could conclude that an effect is unrelated to a pesticide, or that it is unlikely, possible, probable or highly probable that the effect was caused by a pesticide. Sometimes the results of our evaluation of an incident may be inconclusive due to insufficient information. For example, many of the symptoms commonly reported, such as headache, nausea and coughing can be due to causes other than being exposed to a pesticide.

If we do identify an issue, actions taken can include:

• Providing safety tips to the public
• Improving label instructions
• Adding safety measures to the label

Additional Resources

• Annual Reports on Pesticide Incidents
• Public Registry - Incident Reports
• Report Pesticide Problems - Fact Sheet

To report a problem with another type of product (for example, drugs or cosmetics), please visit the Adverse Reaction Reporting for Specific Products webpage.

For more information on pesticides, please contact our Pest Management Information Service.

The public is consulted for all proposed major registration decisions, such as new registrations or major new uses of a pesticide, re-evaluations or special reviews. The consultation documents outline major findings of the evaluations and the proposed decisions, and are made available to the public through consultations. Pesticides and Pest Management also solicits comments on regulatory policies, regulatory directives, and guidance documents.

What is a violation?

Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency has compliance officers across Canada working to achieve compliance with the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) and associated Regulations. Activities regulated under the PCPA include the import, packaging, manufacture, distribution, labelling, sale, and use of pesticides. Following are some examples of violations:

• A store selling an unregistered pest control product.
• A company / user importing a pest control product that is not registered in Canada.
• Suspected misuse of an insecticide by a licensed applicator/farmer.
• The manufacture of an unlicensed pest control product

What types of products are regulated under the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) mandate?

Examples of Pest Control Products regulated under the PMRA mandate are:

• Herbicides
• Insecticides
• Insect repellents
• Fungicides
• Rodenticides
• Swimming pool bactericides / algicides

What types of complaints are not addressed by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)?

The regulations of pesticides in Canada are shared among Federal, Provincial / Territorial and Municipal governments. Often, it is most appropriate to contact your provincial / territorial pesticide regulatory agency rather than PMRA. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Illegal transportation;
• Sale of pest control products by unlicensed vendors;
• Unlicensed / Uncertified applicators;
• Use contrary to Provincial / Municipal Cosmetic Pesticide Bans

Canada's Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) provides the public with the opportunity to inspect the scientific test data supporting pesticide registration decisions. To facilitate transparency and public participation in the regulatory decision-making process, members of the public may inspect the test data in the Reading Room after a final decision is made under the PCPA to register a product, to amend a registration or to continue a registration after a re-evaluation or a special review is completed. Anyone wishing to inspect the data must submit an Inspection of Confidential Test Data form to identify the data to be inspected as well as an affidavit/ statutory declaration stating the purpose of the inspection and attesting that the data will not be used or made available to others to register or amend a product.

Under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA), public have the opportunity to file a Notice of Objection after a decision statement of a major registration decision is made public. Reconsideration of decisions can only be requested on major registration decisions such as:

• Granting or denying applications to register a new active ingredient;
• Registering or amending major new uses; and
• Amending or cancelling registrations following a re-evaluation or special review.

Decision statements that qualify for a reconsideration of decision will be identified. Decisions on which Health Canada has consulted the public, under subsection 28(1) of the PCPA, qualify for requests for reconsideration.

If, after reviewing the decision statement and the evaluation reports in the Public Registry and/or the data in the Reading Room, you believe there is a scientific basis for reconsidering a regulatory decision, you may file a Notice of Objection. You have 60 days from the decision date to submit a Notice of Objection along with the scientific rationale for it.

Health Canada will then review the request and will consider establishing a review panel to examine the regulatory decision in question. Objections must have a valid rationale and be science-based.

For additional information on the reconsideration of decision process, consult the fact sheet "Getting involved in Canada's pesticide regulatory process."