Plan of Priorities under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA or the Act) was modernized on June 13, 2023, when Bill S-5, Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act (now SC 2023, ch. 12), became law. The amended Act requires the Ministers of the Environment and of Health to develop, consult^{Footnote 1} on and publish a Plan of Priorities (the Plan) with timelines, setting out a multi-year, integrated plan for the assessment of substances as well as other activities that support the management of substances. The published Plan of Priorities will be reviewed within 8 years of its publication, and every 8 years after that.

As per section 73(1) of CEPA, the Plan specifies:

• the substances to which the Ministers are satisfied priority should be given in assessing whether they are toxic or capable of becoming toxic
• activities or initiatives in relation to assessing, controlling or otherwise managing the risks to the environment or to human health posed by substances that are or will be undertaken under an Act of Parliament for whose administration either Minister is responsible and which the Ministers are of the opinion should be prioritized; and
• activities or initiatives to promote the development and timely incorporation of scientifically justified alternative methods and strategies in the testing and assessment of substances to replace, reduce or refine the use of vertebrate animals

Delivery of the Plan of Priorities

The Plan of Priorities includes many activities and initiatives to be developed or implemented. Further information on the development and delivery of priorities (for example, substances prioritized for assessment) is provided on the Plan of Priorities: substances prioritized for assessment under CEPA webpage. Check regularly for new information on upcoming initiatives regarding priorities in the Plan. The Government will report progress annually in the CEPA Annual Report.

Reference list

The following reference list contains the links from the Plan of Priorities (in alphabetic order).

1. Agreement on Environmental Cooperation among the Governments of the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (ECA)
2. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
3. Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy: Halting and Reversing Biodiversity Loss in Canada
4. Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA)
5. Canadian Environmental Protection Act: compliance and enforcement policy
6. Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS)
7. CEPA Annual Report: Provides Parliament and people in Canada with information on the activities conducted under CEPA and results achieved
8. CEPA Registry: Find documents relating to the administration of CEPA, including consultations, regulations, and other instruments used to manage chemical substances
9. Chemical substances: Information on assessing and managing the health and environmental risks of chemical substances under the Chemicals Management Plan
10. Chemicals Management Plan (CMP): Government of Canada initiative aimed at reducing the risks posed by chemical substances to people in Canada and the environment
11. Chemicals Management Plan risk management actions table: A list of published CMP risk management actions (proposed or final) for substances that are concluded to be harmful to the environment and/or human health under section 64 of CEPA
12. Commission for Environmental Cooperation
13. Consideration of vulnerable populations in risk assessment: Fact sheet on how the Government of Canada currently considers vulnerable populations in the assessment and management of substances
14. Consulting on the future of chemicals management in Canada: Information and updates on consultations related to chemical management activities
15. Environmental monitoring and surveillance: chemicals management: Environmental monitoring and surveillance in support of the Chemicals Management Plan
16. Healthy home: Information for people in Canada on actions to reduce the risk from certain chemicals and pollutants found in and around the home
17. Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals: Information related to biomonitoring of environmental chemicals within Canada
18. Identification and selection of priorities for assessment CEPA
19. Implementing the modernized Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
20. Implementing the modernized Canadian Environmental Protection Act: proposed Watch List Approach: Outlining how Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada compiles and amends the Watch List
21. Information gathering: Collecting information on substances, groups of substances, and products to inform science-based chemicals management decisions
22. Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
23. Labelling of toxic substances in products, including toxic flame retardants: Development of a strategy for labelling harmful substances in products under CEPA to provide information for people in Canada
24. List of toxic substances managed under Canadian Environmental Protection Act: Information on toxic substances and actions being taken to protect humans and the environment from harmful substances
25. Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) Study Research Platform
26. Minamata Convention on Mercury
27. National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI): Canada’s public inventory of pollutant releases, disposals, and transfers, tracking over 300 pollutants from over 7,000 facilities across Canada
28. Northern Contaminants Program (NCP)
29. Open Government Portal
30. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Decisions related to the Chemicals Programme
31. Participation in international environmental agreements and instruments: includes a list of multilateral environmental agreements (MAEs)
32. Persistence and Bioaccumulation Regulations
33. Plan of Priorities: Multi-year, integrated plan under CEPA for the assessment of substances in Canada, as well as other activities and initiatives that support the management of substances
34. Plan of Priorities: substances prioritized for assessment under CEPA: Priorities for assessment under CEPA or for development of an action plan or approach, including information on why these are priorities and timelines to do the work
35. Request to assess a substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 Overview of the public request mechanism, under subsection 76(1) of CEPA, where any person may request that the Ministers of Environment and Health assess a substance to determine if it meets the criteria of section 64 of CEPA
36. Risk assessment of chemical substances Fact sheet series: topics in risk assessment of substances under CEPA (such as the application of weight of evidence and precaution in risk assessment)
37. Risk management of chemical substances: Actions and activities to manage the risks posed by chemical substances.
38. Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
39. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
40. Strategy to guide the replacement, reduction, or refinement of vertebrate animal testing under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA): A strategy to guide continued efforts to replace, reduce, or refine the use of vertebrate animals when assessing chemicals under CEPA
41. Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act
42. Substances Search: An online searchable tool that serves as a method to communicate substance-based information. An online searchable tool that serves as a method to communicate substance-based information
43. Toxic substances list: schedule 1: Substances that are determined to be "toxic" under CEPA
44. Watch List: A list of substances of potential concern under CEPA that have been assessed and found to have hazardous properties but currently do not pose risks to human health or the environment

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Mail:

Chemicals Management Division
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Place Vincent Massey, 351 St. Joseph Blvd
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0H3

E-mail: substances@ec.gc.ca

Telephone: 1-800-567-1999 (within Canada) or 819-938-3232 (outside of Canada)