441-01234 (Environment)

Health Canada is aware of the importance of bees and the beekeeping industry, as well as the issues regarding bee health, including concerns over the potential effect of chronic pesticide exposure. Declines in honeybee and other pollinator populations have generated considerable scientific and public interest both in Canada and internationally. The available science suggests that multiple factors acting in combination may be at play, including loss of habitat and food sources, diseases, viruses and pests, climate, and pesticide exposure. Departmental scientists collaborate with scientists from universities and other organizations to determine whether specific pesticides are contributing to pollinator declines.

In Canada, pesticides are regulated federally under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA), which is administered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). Our number one priority is to protect the health and safety of Canadians and the environment (including pollinator insects).

Before a pesticide is allowed to be used or sold in Canada, it must undergo a rigorous scientific assessment process that provides reasonable certainty that no harm to human health and the environment will occur when it is used according to label directions. Depending on the type of pesticide being evaluated, results from up to 200 scientific studies (or in some cases more) may be required to determine whether the pesticide would have any negative effect on people, animals (including beneficial insects, such as pollinators like bees), or plants, including organisms in the soil and water.

Health Canada must also periodically re-evaluate pesticides that are on the market to determine whether they continue to meet the Department’s current health and environmental standards and hence, whether they should continue to be permitted for use in Canada.

Scientific data and information considered during these scientific evaluations may come from a variety of sources, such as from registrants, federal and provincial governments, academia and the research community, other internationally recognized regulatory agencies, as well as a large body of published independent scientific studies. When the science-based assessment indicates that potential risk to human health or the environment is not considered acceptable when risk management measures are applied, Health Canada will cancel either specific uses or all uses of a pesticide, depending on the assessment. When all uses of a pesticide are cancelled, the pesticide would be phased-out from the Canadian market.

The PMRA completes a risk assessment on bees for all outdoor and greenhouse use pesticides. This assessment uses the updated pollinator risk assessment framework developed in collaboration with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The framework incorporates assessment of acute and chronic risks to adult and larval bees, effects to the entire colony, and effects to non-Apis bees such as bumble bees and solitary bees. The assessment also considers how attractive the treated crops are to bees, and how and when the pesticide will be used in Canada.

To help ensure agricultural practices across the country protect pollinators, Health Canada actively works with key stakeholders and federal and provincial agriculture and environment ministries. Health Canada is participating in a recently established Industry-Government Honey Bee Sustainability Working Group, launched by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in order to explore solutions to key problems affecting bees. These collaborations help address data gaps and refine risk assessments. Health Canada also cooperates internationally through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Commission for Plant-Pollinator Relationships (ICPPR) Bee Protection Working Group to develop improvements to pollinator risk assessment and mitigation, including development of test guidelines and guidance documents:

• OECD Work Related to Bees/Pollinators
• Bee Protection Group, International Commission for Plant-Pollinator Relationships (ICPPR)

In 2012, Health Canada began receiving large numbers of bee incident reports. Health Canada, in collaboration with many stakeholders, implemented risk reduction measures to minimize exposure to pollinators. In 2014, Health Canada implemented additional restrictions when planting corn and soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids in order to protect pollinators from dust generated during planting of treated seed. With these risk mitigation measures in place, Health Canada saw a significant decrease in the number of incidents reported. The number of bee incidents in 2014, 2015 and 2016 was 70–80% lower than in 2013 and the number of incident reports remained low from 2017 to present. Health Canada continues to monitor the bee incident reports.

In recent years, Health Canada has conducted several post-market reviews of neonicotinoid pesticides. In 2019, Health Canada published pollinator-focused (e.g., bees) re-evaluation decisions for clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. To protect pollinators, Health Canada cancelled several uses of these pesticides and added further restrictions to other uses, such as prohibiting spraying of some crops before or during bloom. It should be noted that these decisions were made following the consideration of a large variety of published independent scientific data, including those reviewed by other internationally recognized regulatory agencies (such as the European Union).

On May 19, 2021, Health Canada released the final re-evaluation decision for the neonicotinoid pesticide, imidacloprid. This followed the special review decisions related to aquatic organisms for two neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, released by Health Canada on March 31, 2021. Previously, Health Canada had consulted publicly on a proposal to cancel all outdoor uses of these pesticides. Over 47,000 comments were received during neonicotinoid consultations, as well as a substantial amount of new information, including new studies and water monitoring data. To protect the environment, in this final decision, Health Canada cancelled some uses of imidacloprid, and introduced additional mitigation measures and restrictions on some of the uses that remain registered, which is consistent with the Special Review decisions for clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

On February 24, 2022 the Special Review Decision SRD2022-02 on the potential environmental risk related to squash bee exposure to clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid used on cucurbits, was published. All comments received on the proposed decision were considered. Based on the comments, an additional environmental risk assessment to address potential risk to squash bees that could be exposed to persistent neonicotinoid residues from seed treatments was conducted as part of the Special Review. Ultimately, the Special Review did not result in a change to the risk conclusions described in the 2019 pollinator re-evaluation decisions of these pesticides, which considered mitigation already in place to reduce exposure to neonicotinoids to bees from the pollinator re-evaluations. Risks are considered acceptable when the products are applied according to the existing mitigation measures. For more information about PMRA’s work on neonicotinoid pesticides, we encourage you to visit Neonicotinoid insecticides - Canada.ca.

The full re-evaluations for clothianidin and thiamethoxam have been initiated and the PMRA is targeting to publish the proposed re-evaluation decisions by spring 2023 for a public 90-day consultation, as indicated in the published PMRA Re-evaluation and Special Review Work Plan 2021-2026. The Department will consider all comments received during this consultation period before finalizing its decisions.

It should also be noted that provincial/territorial and municipal governments have shared responsibilities in regulating pesticides. Provincial responsibilities for pesticides generally include regulating the sale, use, transportation, storage and disposal of pesticides. Furthermore, the provinces conduct compliance monitoring that complements federal compliance programs, and issue spray licences and/or permits to pesticide applicators, operators and vendors.

The PMRA is taking measures to strengthen environmental protection for people, plants, and animals (including beneficial insects, such as pollinators like bees), and to improve the transparency of review processes for pesticides like neonicotinoids. For instance, the PMRA has created a  Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products (SAC-PCP), which provides Health Canada with independent scientific advice to support evidence-based decision making on pesticide health and environmental risk and value assessments as well as development of risk management options. The PMRA has also diversified the sources and increased the volume of information used to make decisions on pesticides by creating a water sampling program that collects real-world data from rivers, streams, wetlands, and lakes across Canada. The data from this program is available here. Further, the PMRA is incorporating plain language communications in key pesticide regulatory decisions to support more meaningful public participation in the regulatory process. This work to strength the pesticide review process is a key priority for the PMRA and a mandate commitment for the Minister of Health.

Health Canada remains committed to ensuring that the PMRA can implement the changes required to improve program delivery and maintain the public’s confidence as a credible and effective regulator that is protective of health and the environment. Science has always been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of our processes. As such, please be assured that Health Canada continues to monitor for new information related to all pesticides (including concerns for pollinator insects) and will take appropriate action if there are reasonable grounds to believe that use of the products is resulting in risks of concern to human health or the environment (e.g., bees). For more information on how Health Canada protects pollinators, please visit Canada.ca/pollinators.

Pest control products are regulated in Canada through a federal and provincial regulatory network that delivers a program of pre-market scientific assessment, enforcement, education, and information dissemination. The registration and regulation of pesticides in Canada falls under the responsibility of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) via the authority of the Pest Control Products Act.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) works closely with PMRA to help ensure that pesticides, when used according to directions, do not pose any unacceptable risks to humans and beneficial insects such as bees and other insect pollinators. AAFC supports the PMRA’s rigorous, science-based evaluations of pesticides.

Following the August 4^th, 2021 announcement to strengthen the capacity and transparency of review process for pesticides, $7 million has been invested for AAFC scientists to accelerate the research, development, and adoption of alternative pest management solutions. These funds support the Minister of Agriculture’ s 2021 Mandate Letter commitment to “support food producers who choose alternative pest management approaches that reduce the need for chemical pesticides.”

Limiting the negative impacts of pesticides

On December 12, 2022, I announced the launch of consultations to develop a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy (SAS). The SAS will help set a shared direction for collective action to improve environmental performance in the sector over the long-term, support farmers’ livelihoods and strengthen the business vitality of the Canadian  agricultural industry.

Focus areas of the SAS include the preservation of biodiversity and pollinator health. To reach these goals, the SAS will look into innovations in biotechnology and precision agriculture and promote pesticides with less impact on non-target organisms. The SAS will also seek to implement integrated pest management systems  that make use of natural controls.

Also in December 2022, Parties to the UN Convention of Biological Diversity, including Canada, concluded the 15th Conference of the Parties with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse the loss of nature around the world. This new framework commits Parties to 23 targets, including a  target to reduce risk and negative impacts of pollution, including reducing by half the risks to biodiversity and ecosystem functions of pesticides and excess loss of  nutrients. The Government of Canada is leading Canada’s process to update Canada’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to reflect intended contributions to meeting each of the global commitments.

Protecting Pollinator Health

Federal and provincial governments have made investments to better understand and maintain healthy bee populations, including programs that support beekeepers, research geared towards maintaining healthy bee populations, and a national surveillance project to document the health profile of honeybee colonies in Canada:

• Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, AAFC works with the provinces to co-fund activities that support environmental sustainability, including bee health. For example, Ontario’s Honey Bee Health Management initiative funds beekeeper operational improvements to reduce biosecurity risks, overwinter loss and the spread of pests and disease for honey bees.

• Among other projects, AAFC scientists are currently engaged in a Large Scale Applied Genomics Research Project along with several Canadian Universities to develop a new real-time bee health assessment and diagnosis platform using stressor-specific bio-markers. Valued at almost $10 million, this project is known as “BeeCSI” and measures gene expression in bees subjected to various pests, parasites and pesticides in both laboratory and field settings, in order to detect unique and detectable signatures of stress. By discovering expression biomarkers specifically related to pesticide exposure, including those from neonicotinoid insecticides, AAFC scientists are developing tools to more rapidly detect the effects of pesticides on honey bees thereby enabling more proactive management of bee health.

• The Beekeepers Commission of Alberta in collaboration with the Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association had undertaken the National Honey Bee Health Survey project and worked closely with colleagues in other provinces as the project progressed, utilizing the National Bee Diagnostic Centre for sample analysis. The goal of the National Honey Bee Health Survey was to establish a bee health database in Canada to document the prevalence, intensity and distribution of pests, pathogens and chemical residues in Canadian honey bee colonies. Phase I of the project has been completed (2014-2017), while Phase II plans are underway. Prior to initiation of the National Honey Bee Health Survey in Canada, surveillance of this nature had only been done at the regional level; the sector is seeking to expand co-ordination and identify issues that present challenges to bee health across the country.

In each province, a provincial beekeeper collects relevant data on beekeeping and honey production, including the population of honeybee colonies and the number of  beekeepers. In 2022, Canada had 13,850 beekeepers keeping 764,829 honey bee colonies, representing an increase of sixty three percent in the number of beekeepers and fifteen percent in the number of colonies over the last ten years.

The federal government is committed to protecting the health of the Canadian bee population and will continue to support Canadian beekeepers as they work diligently to grow their operations while addressing the challenges facing the sector.