Legal and Regulatory Framework

Updating: August 2011

In Canada

On Québec

• Pesticides Act
  • Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides
  • Pesticides Management Code
  • Table 1. History of the Pesticides Act
  • Table 2. History of regulations related to the Pesticides Act

• Environment Quality Act

  • Impact Study
  • Certificate of authorization
  • Drinking water
  • Pesticide wastes

Within municipal jurisdictions

• Municipalities of Québec with regulations on pesticides (PDF, 45 Ko - French)

In Canada

Pest control products imported, sold or used in Canada are regulated throughout the country by the Pest Control Products Act and its regulation. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is responsible for administering this legislation, registering pest control products, re-evaluating registered products and setting maximum residue limits in food.

On the one hand, any pest control product used, sold or imported in Canada, must be registered. Whether or not a product should be granted registration, is based upon a rigorous scientific assessment of health and environment considerations as well on its value (including efficacy). On the other hand, it is prohibited to use a pest control product without conforming to its label contents. Any application inconsistent with the label directions or limitations, is an offence according to the law, and may entail a risk for human health, the environment and/or both.

The new Pest Control Products Act aimed at modernizing legislation on pesticides received Royal Assent in December 2002, and come into force in June 2006. The new act help better protect health and the environment, make more transparent the regulation system and strengthen the post-registration control of pesticides.

Since 1992, the Federal, Provincial, Territorial Committee on Pest Management and Pesticides of which Québec is a member, guides governments on how to manage their programs, policies, and on how to address issues concerning pesticides, and through its working groups, actively seeks solutions to common problems. Some progress have been made where there is a need to harmonize, wherever it is possible, programs and policies of federal, provincial et territorial governments regarding pesticides.

On Québec

In Québec, pesticides sales and use are regulated by the Pesticides Act and, in complementary fashion, by the Environment Quality Act. Laws and regulations stemming from these are administered by the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs.

• The Pesticides Act

In 1986, Québec launched its "Politique pour une utilisation rationnelle des pesticides" which completed the draft bill on pesticides. Assented in 1987, Québec’s Pesticides Act was a complement to the federal legal framework. After five years of enforcement, bill 139 was assented in 1993, (Act to amend the Pesticides Act) with the aim of amending some provisions of the Pesticides Act in order to simplify its implementation (Table 1).

The Pesticides Act targets two major objectives:

• prevent and mitigate harmful effects to the environment and human health;

• rationalize and reduce the use of pesticides.

The means selected to fulfil these objectives focus mainly on promoting the analysis, assessment and control of the effects of the use of pesticides through specific activities intended to widen knowledge about these products (environmental monitoring, for example).

To contribute to the development of alternative solutions to the use of pesticides and promote these, the Ministère supports research efforts by funding projects and participating in the design and promotion of public information and outreach tools.

In addition, legislative and regulatory controls are among the means taken to ensure the competence of key users and to set practice guidelines. Under these controls, provisions are made to:

• classify pesticides;

• establish a system of permits and certificates;

• require records as well as statements of sales and use;

• require measures aimed at minimizing harmful effects to the environment of activities related to storage, sale and use of pesticides;

• impose penalties.

To clarify the mechanics of the Pesticides Act, three regulations came into force in 1988, namely the Regulation respecting pesticides, the Regulation respecting the application of pesticides on farm and, the Regulation respecting the application of pesticides in forests (Table 2). In 1997, the Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides came into force and enacted into law the majority of the Act to amend the Pesticides Act sections. Amended in 2003, the Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides:

• controls the pesticides classification into five classes according to their level of risk for the environment and for human health;

• requires that concerned businesses hold a permit corresponding to the type of activity they are engaged in;

• requires permit holders to keep records and prepare statements of transactions of sales and uses of products;

• requires that vendors and users hold a certificate of qualification, after passing the prescribed exam, or one that is recognized by its activity sector.

In 2001, a focus group was formed to identify which means are appropriate to reduce dependency on the use of pesticides in urban areas, to diminish risks related to their use and by building up citizens’ accountability. In its report submitted in March 2002, the Focus Group on Pesticides in Urban Areas outlined some fifteen recommendations, one of which was the enactment of the Pesticides Management Code deemed essential to reach the goals set for urban areas.

In force since 2003, the Pesticides Management Code introduces regulations to control the use and sale of pesticides in order to reduce pesticide exposure for people and the environment. Its regulatory stipulations especially target holders of permits and certificates, pesticide sales outlets as well as commercial and private users, including farm producers and foresters. Certain provisions address ordinary citizens. Childcare centres, elementary and secondary schools shall also be as free as possible from pesticides.

Table 1. History of the Pesticides Act

Table 2. History of regulations related to the Pesticides Act

• Environment Quality Act

Actions restraining the use of pesticides related to the Environment Quality Act enactment began in the 1980s. The Pesticides Act complemented these actions in 1987.

In accordance with the Environment Quality Act and its related regulations, certain projects are subject to environmental impact assessment and review procedures. Certain users must also obtain a certificate of authorization in compliance with this legislation. Standards ensure that drinking water is safe.

• Impact study

In accordance with the Regulation respecting environmental impact assessment and review, any program or project, involving aerial pesticide spraying for non-agricultural purposes over an area of 600 hectares or more, is subject to an assessment and examination process of impacts on the environment, including an impact study and eventually public consultations. This regulation does not apply to:

• spraying of an insecticide whose only active ingredient is Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (B.t.k.);

• experimental sprayings of insecticides in forest environments using a new application technique over a total area of less than 5000 hectares.

• Certificate of authorization

The Environment Quality Act requires that certain activities be carried out with an authorization from the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs. The Regulation respecting the application of the Environment Quality Act stipulates that a promoter or user must obtain authorization before carrying out any work involving:

• the use of pesticides belonging to Class 1, as established according to the Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides;

• the use of pesticides other than phytocides or B.t.k. by aircraft, in a forest environment or for non-agricultural purposes;

• the use of pesticides in an aquatic environment having a surface outlet into a drainage basin.

Directive 017 explains what to do and which information must be furnished to obtain a certificate of authorization for projects requiring the use of pesticides.

• Drinking water

Since 2001, the Regulation respecting the quality of drinking water provides standards and controls regulating water quality for human consumption. Some drinking water distribution systems must be in compliance with standards applying to organic substances, including pesticides. In other words, water must not contain pesticides in a concentration greater than those indicated in this regulation.

• Pesticide wastes

Pesticide wastes, that is wastes consisting in whole or in part of pesticides or contaminated by such products, are regulated by the Environment Quality Act and are not subject to the Pesticides Act.

Within municipal jurisdictions

Since the early 1990s, numerous municipalities in Québec have enacted regulations to control pesticides (PDF, 26 Ko - French), to better protect citizens regarding their use. Municipalities exercise this right in accordance with the Municipal Code of Québec and the Cities and Towns Act. Moreover, in June 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada, in the case of Hudson, officially granted this city the power to regulate municipalities to ensure the welfare of its citizens and acknowledged that the federal, provincial and municipal jurisdictions complement each other regarding pesticides control.

The Pesticides Act defines the primacy of the Pesticides Management Code regarding municipal by-laws by stating that any provision of the provincial legislation prevails over any inconsistent provision of any by-law passed by a municipality or a metropolitan community. In fact the Pesticides Act allows municipalities or metropolitan communities to adopt municipal by-laws; however the latter must make sure that such provisions are not inconsistent with the Pesticides Management Code. Lastly, municipal by-laws need not be authorized by the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks before they are passed.