441-01897 (Civil and human rights)

Health Canada recognizes that natural health products (NHPs) are important to Canadians to help support and maintain their health and is committed to supporting access to natural health products that are safe and of high quality.

While NHPs are generally lower risk products, that does not mean they are without risk, especially if products are contaminated, or used improperly.

In 2021, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development completed an audit of Health Canada’s NHP program and found both strengths and areas for improvement. Health Canada committed to undertaking a number of initiatives to improve the oversight of these products.

In an effort to make natural health products safer for consumers and support Canadians in making informed choices, Health Canada recently introduced two important regulatory and legislative changes:

• In July 2022, after extensive consultation and feedback from stakeholders, Health Canada introduced new regulatory requirements to make natural health product labels easier for Canadians to read and understand. This includes, for example, increased font size and improved colour contrast.
• In June 2023,  Parliament passed legislation enabling Health Canada to take more action if a serious risk to health is identified with a natural health product. This legislation allows Health Canada to order recalls or add warnings to labels, if necessary, which the Department could not do before.

Presently, NHPs are the only line of health products where the regulatory activities are fully funded by Canadian taxpayers.

Health Canada knows that many NHP companies are small businesses and is committed to supporting them. The Department is considering measures to help alleviate the impact of fees on businesses.  This includes fee reductions of 25% to 50% and a full waiver of pre-market evaluation fees for small businesses marketing their first product.

Health Canada is actively reviewing thousands of comments received on its fee proposal, including those relating to the proposed fee reductions for small businesses, as part of an open and transparent consultation process with Canadians and businesses. At this time,  Health Canada is considering how best to adjust the  proposed approach to address concerns raised prior to further engagement with stakeholders.

Ultimately, this initiative is about ensuring Canadians have access to natural health products that are safe, effective and of high quality, while supporting small businesses through this process.