Federal regulationCanada Gazette, Part IComment Period Closed

Order Adding a Toxic Substance to Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

Sponsoring body: Environment, Dept. of the, and Dept. of HealthIntroduced March 8, 2025Last checked August 25, 2026

Read the official text on gazette.gc.caOfficial version — Canada Gazette, Part I

What this regulation does

This Order formally classifies the entire class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), excluding fluoropolymers, as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, by adding them to Part 2 of Schedule 1. This designation does not impose any immediate restrictions but gives the federal government the legal authority to develop future risk management rules — including potential prohibitions — for these 'forever chemicals' found in thousands of products.

Plain-language summary by Legisail.

Business impact

This Order itself imposes no direct compliance costs, restrictions, or administrative burdens on any business — the RIAS explicitly confirms there are no incremental impacts on companies at this stage. However, businesses across a very wide range of sectors should treat this as an early warning that regulations are coming: industries using PFAS in firefighting foams, food packaging, textiles, paints and coatings, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, electronics, and automotive applications are all potentially in scope. Companies in chemical manufacturing, construction, and apparel that submitted comments during consultations have already flagged significant concern about the breadth of the PFAS definition. Future risk management instruments — which will be subject to separate consultation and cost-benefit analysis — could include partial or total prohibitions on manufacturing, importing, using, or selling PFAS-containing products.

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Where this regulation is

Proposed

Comment period closed

Final publicationPending

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At a glance

Comment deadline: May 7, 2025
Jurisdiction: Federal

Official record