Protecting the right to a healthy environment under the modernized Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and enhancing chemicals management

Recent amendments of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) required the Government of Canada to develop a framework for the right to a healthy environment under CEPA. They also required the Government to publish a plan to address chemical substances and to guide efforts to replace, reduce, or refine vertebrate animal testing. The Government delivered on these commitments by publishing the Implementation Framework for the Right to a Healthy Environment under CEPA; the Plan of Priorities; and the Strategy to Replace, Reduce, or Refine Vertebrate Animal Testing.

The Right to a Healthy Environment under CEPA

The Implementation Framework elaborates on the meaning of the Right to a Healthy Environment (the Right) under CEPA. It provides guidance for CEPA decision-makers on how to consider the Right in the administration of CEPA.

As per the Framework, the Right to a Healthy Environment under CEPA includes substantive and procedural elements. The substantive elements build on the definition of a healthy environment and include the right of every individual in Canada to live in an environment that is protected from harmful substances, pollutants, and waste; and where actions under CEPA contribute to clean and healthy air and water, a sustainable climate, and healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. The procedural elements of the Right include access to information and participation in decision-making.

The Framework elaborates on three new principles, namely environmental justice, intergenerational equity, and non-regression and describes how they will be considered in the administration of the Act to fulfil the duty to uphold these principles.

Additionally, the framework elaborates on how respect for Indigenous rights informs CEPA decision-making and recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge in informing decisions about protecting the environment and human health. In collaboration with Indigenous peoples, guidance on bridging, braiding, and weaving Indigenous knowledge with western science will be developed to support CEPA decision-makers.

The Framework also describes five of the relevant factors—environmental, scientific, social, health, and economic—that can be considered in interpreting and applying the Right and in determining the reasonable limits to which it is subject.

In the administration of CEPA, the Government of Canada will aim to fulfill its duty of protecting the right to a healthy environment, as it relates to the substantive elements, through consideration of the procedural elements, CEPA principles, and relevant factors described above, recognizing the Right is subject to reasonable limits.

The Government of Canada engaged with the public, Indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, and industry stakeholders during consultations in the spring and fall of 2024 to help inform the development of the Implementation Framework.

A new web portal offers more information on actions and decisions made under CEPA and gives the public an opportunity to provide input.

A transition period for the implementation of the Framework is in place to continue to advance timely CEPA decisions and actions. This will prevent negative impacts on the environment and human health while the Right to a Healthy Environment is being fully integrated into the administration of the Act.

Plan of Priorities

The Plan of Priorities outlines upcoming priorities to address substances to protect the health of people in Canada and the environment. It includes a list of more than 30 substances and substance groups (comprising approximately 500 chemicals) prioritized for assessment and includes new or expanded activities to help assess, control, and manage risks posed by substances.

In selecting and prioritizing these substances, the Plan took into account key considerations, including:

• substances that are hazardous to human health and/or the environment, including carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxicants, as well as endocrine disrupting substances
• substances that are impacting populations or environments that may be at increased risk, due to either greater exposure or greater susceptibility
• substances with the potential to contribute to cumulative risks
• very hazardous substances that are capable of long-range transport
• substances with known hazardous properties that are used in products available to consumers
• potential substitutes for substances with known toxicity

The input and feedback received during the public consultation on the Proposed Plan of Priorities in the fall of 2024 was used to help refine the current Plan.

Moving forward, the Plan must be reviewed every eight years. The list of substances prioritized for assessment may also be amended from time to time, based on, for example, the emergence of new science, or through the new public request for assessment mechanism. Amendments to the Plan will be publicly communicated and consulted on.

Through implementation of the Plan of Priorities and the administration of chemicals management, the Government commits to upholding the principle of environmental justice and protecting the right to a healthy environment provided for in CEPA. Stakeholders and the public will be invited to participate in public consultations as the Plan is implemented.

Reducing reliance on vertebrate animal testing

The modernized CEPA recognizes the need to replace, reduce, or refine the use of vertebrate animal testing when assessing the potential harms that substances may pose to human health and the environment.

As part of the Plan of Priorities, Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada have developed a strategy to guide efforts to replace, reduce, or refine vertebrate animal toxicity testing. This strategy builds on:

• the major milestone announced by Health Canada in June 2023 regarding the end of cosmetic animal testing in Canada under the Food and Drugs Act
• the work underway to amend the New Substances Notification Regulations (NSNR) under CEPA to integrate greater flexibility to include alternative methods to vertebrate animal toxicity testing

This strategy considers input and feedback received during the public consultations on the related notice of intent, which closed in January 2024, and the draft strategy, which closed in November 2024.

The strategy is intended to be flexible. Its implementation will reflect and keep pace with emerging science and technology, including ongoing engagement with people living in Canada, Indigenous partners, stakeholders, and collaborations with national and international partners.