Federal Plastics Registry  

The Federal Plastics Registry (FPR) collects data from companies across the plastics value chain to help monitor and track plastic from the time it is produced up to its end of life. By better tracking plastic through its full life cycle, Canada is better equipped to address plastic waste and pollution through increased transparency and sound, robust, evidence-based decision-making. 

About the FPR

The FPR requires companies (including resin manufacturers, service providers, generators of waste, and producers of plastic products) to report annually on the quantity and types of plastic they manufacture, import, and place on the market. Producers of plastic products and service providers are also required to report on the quantity of plastic collected and diverted, reused, repaired, remanufactured, refurbished, recycled, processed into chemicals, composted, incinerated, and landfilled. They are also required to report on the amount of plastic waste generated on their industrial, commercial, and institutional premises.

The FPR provides Canadians, including innovators and decision-makers, with reliable data that will identify opportunities for further action to reduce plastic waste and pollution, as well as help monitor progress over time.

In Canada, the responsibility for managing waste is shared among the federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments. As part of their responsibilities, provinces and territories develop and expand extended producer-responsibility programs to make producers responsible for managing their products at their end-of-life. While extended producer responsibility plays an important role in building a circular plastics economy, reporting requirements are inconsistent across Canada due to different definitions, calculations, and indicators of success.

That's why the Canada-wide Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste committed federal, provincial, and territorial governments to developing and maintaining Canada-wide data on how plastic moves through the economy. The FPR will help address these needs by providing accessible, consistent and robust plastic data. This information will go beyond plastic packaging and other plastic categories currently captured through domestic extended producer-responsibility programs.

What Needs to be Reported

The FPR has various reporting requirements for various companies along the plastics value chain in Canada.

Companies obligated to report to the FPR

The following companies/organizations are required to report to the FPR:

1. Manufacturers and Importers of Plastic Resins: A person that manufactures or imports plastic resins and places them on the market in Canada
2. Producers of Plastic Products: A person that imports, manufactures, and places plastic packaging or plastic products on the market in Canada. Producers can be brand owners, importers, manufacturers, or retailers, including marketplace facilitators and marketplace sellers
3. Generators of Plastic Waste at an ICI Facility: A person that generates plastic packaging and plastic product waste at their industrial, commercial, or institutional (ICI) facility
4. Service Providers in Plastic Management: A person that manages plastics via the following activities:
   • Collecting or hauling
   • Arranging for direct reuse
   • Refurbishing
   • Repairing
   • Remanufacturing
   • Mechanical recycling
   • Chemical recycling
   • Processing into chemicals, including fuels
   • Composting
   •  Incineration with energy recovery
   • Incineration for industrial processes
   •  Incineration without energy recovery
   •  Landfilling

Reporting requirements

Companies obligated to report to the FPR will be required to provide the following information:

• The category and subcategory of packaging or plastic products
• The resin type in packaging or plastic products
• Quantity of each resin in packaging or plastic products in kg
• Calculation methods

Exceptions

To help ensure that the FPR focuses on significant contributors to plastic waste while reducing administrative burdens on smaller companies, certain persons are exempt from reporting requirements:

• Small Producers and Importers: Persons that manufacture, import, or place on the market less than 1000 kg of plastic products or packaging per calendar year are exempt from reporting requirements.
• Small Waste Generators: Persons that generate less than 1000 kg of packaging and plastic product waste at their industrial, commercial, or institutional (ICI) facility per calendar year are also exempt.
• Small Waste Managers: Service providers that manage less than 1000 kg of plastic via activities such as collecting, recycling, or disposal per calendar year are exempt from reporting.

Reporting Timelines

Reporting requirements for the FPR will be introduced in phases to allow time for those obligated to report to meet the requirements. Reporting to the FPR will start in September of 2025 with Phase 1, requiring reporting on plastic placed on the market in three categories for the 2024 calendar year. In 2026, Phase 2 adds reporting requirements for resin manufacturers and importers, for the three categories that reported during Phase 1, as well as reporting on plastic placed on the market for remaining categories.

Phase 2 will also see the introduction of reporting on plastic waste generated at ICI facilities and the introduction of reporting for plastic collected and sent for diversion and disposal for some categories.

In 2027, Phase 3 adds additional reporting on plastics collected and sent for diversion and disposal for more categories. Reporting requirements for Phase 4 will be covered in a future information gathering notice. A simplified version of the phases of reporting are outlined in the table below.

N/A – Not Applicable

Guidance Materials

This page provides guidance and resources for anyone required to report to the FPR, and others interested in learning about FPR reporting requirements.

Resources

The use of these resources is not mandatory, nor necessary for organizations to fulfil their reporting obligations. They are designed to assist organizations in understanding the reporting requirements and in determining if they are required to report.

• Guide for Reporting to the Federal Plastics Registry - Phase 1
  • A guidance document has been prepared to provide assistance in responding to the notice. This version of the document is focused on Phase 1 reporting requirements – reports due in 2025 on 2024 data. It provides a general overview of the reporting requirements as well as additional guidance materials which include tools such as calculation methods and other aids.
• Foreign Supplier Letter
  • When responding to the notice, you are required to provide information that your organization possesses or to which you may be reasonably expected to have access. Your supply chain may be able to provide more detailed information on the plastic composition in your products and packaging. Suppliers may have information that you may not be aware of. Any person requiring more detailed information on the plastic composition of their products is required to contact their suppliers.
  • To that end, a Government of Canada letter for communicating with your foreign suppliers is available. The letter may help you obtain information from your suppliers in order to complete your response to the notice. The letter is available in English, French, Chinese (simplified) and Spanish. To receive a copy of the letter, please email RFP-FPR@ec.gc.ca with the subject line ‘Foreign Supplier Letter' and include the languages of the letters you would like to receive.
• User guides for using the online reporting platform
  
  • Several user guides have been prepared to help users use the FPR's new reporting platform. These user guides are available on the new reporting platform or upon request. To obtain copies, please submit a request by email to RFP-FPR@ec.gc.ca.

Online Reporting Platform

Access the FPR's new online reporting platform. The new online reporting platform is a safe, secure, and reliable way to report data for the FPR. The platform was developed from the ground up with a modern, easy to use interface that ensures a seamless reporting experience for all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Public Consultation and Engagement

The Government of Canada has consulted extensively during the establishment of the FPR. We will continue to engage and consult with Canadians as the FPR progresses, as we consider the advice of stakeholders – the providers and users of our data – and the public invaluable as we plan our data collection activities, develop reporting requirements and create tools to interpret data.

Ongoing consultations

• There are no ongoing consultations at this time

Past Consultations

• On December 30, 2023, we published a Notice of intent to issue a section 46 notice for the Federal Plastics Registry to create an inventory of data in the Canada Gazette, Part I. A 45-day public comment period followed the publication of the Notice of Intent. The public comment period closed on February 13, 2024.
• On April 18, 2023, we published the Technical paper: Federal Plastics Registry on the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA) registry. A 30-day public comment period followed the publication of the Technical paper. The public comment period closed on May 18, 2023.
• On July 25, 2022 we published the Consultation paper: a proposed federal plastics registry for producers of plastic products (PDF) on the CEPA registry. The public comment period closed on October 7, 2022. In February 2023, we published a What we heard report which summarized the feedback received on the discussion paper from written comments, stakeholder discussion sessions and webinars.

Legal Requirements: Canada Gazette Notice

Information for the FPR will be collected in accordance with subsection 46(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). Under the authority of CEPA, companies that meet published reporting requirements are required to report. Companies that meet reporting requirements but which fail to report, do not report on time, or knowingly submit false or misleading information, could face penalties as listed under Section 272 and 273 of CEPA.

Contact Us

Mailing Address:

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

Email: RFP-FPR@ec.gc.ca