Streamlining Ontario Pesticide Regulations: Bill 132 Updated

Posted April 25, 2020

By: Teri Dickinson, Regulatory Affairs Group Manager, email

On April 15, 2020, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) published the amendments to the Pesticide Regulation (63/09 General) and an updated Guide to Pesticide Classes and Pest Risk Assessment Guideline. This amendment streamlines the pesticide registration process while prioritizing the safety of Canadians.

As part of this legislation, Bill 132 eliminated the application process for pesticides, as well as the Ontario Pesticides Advisory Committee (OPAC); as its primary function of advising on the classification of pesticides would no longer be needed. These amendments will come into effect on May 1, 2020.

These amendments reduce administrative burden and complexity by ending Ontario’s provincial classification of pesticides and aligning classes with the federal government’s pesticide categories, as other provinces do. Ontario will maintain its general regulatory requirements, including licensing and permitting, realigned to the federal categories.

Farmers will continue to be exempt from the need for a licence to use Class B and C pesticides; however, a farmer would be required to be trained and certified to use Class B and C pesticides because these classes include higher hazard pesticides. This requirement would come into effect January 1, 2021.

Vendors will require a licence for the sale of Class D pesticides, with exemptions that would ensure that most of the products that have been available for sale without a licence can still be sold without a licence. These exemptions would apply to pesticides that are Class D, pesticides that are in a container of less than 1 L or 1 kg in size, and are in a ready-to-use formulation. This would not apply to pesticides that require the purchaser to be given a handout explaining uses allowed under the cosmetic pesticide ban. This requirement will come into effect January 1, 2021.

Would you like to know how these changes may affect your company?

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