Canada | Consulting on the future of chemicals management | Supply chain transparency

Background - Consumer, workplace, industrial, and other products contain a wide range of chemical ingredients, some of which can have impacts on the health of Canadians or on the environment, and there is growing demand for increased transparency about these ingredients and their potential risks.

Good information on the chemicals that are in the thousands of diverse products that are traded within corporate supply chains is essential. There is increasing demand from consumers for readily accessible chemical information on product labels to help them make informed choices. Companies need chemical ingredient information for complying with regulatory requirements, setting and meeting environmental, social, and governance targets, to enable the informed substitution of toxic chemicals with safer alternatives, and to ensure the safe re-introduction of materials (for example, metals and plastics) within a circular economy. Furthermore, governments need information about product content in order to be able to assess risks, determine the exposure of Canadians and of the environment to chemicals, and design and implement risk management measures, where appropriate.

As part of the announcement in February 2022 on strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the Government signaled its intent to enhance chemical ingredient transparency throughout the supply chain and to strengthen mandatory labelling for cosmetics, cleaning products, and flame retardants in upholstered furniture, giving Canadians greater access to information about the substances to which they are exposed.

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