PCB reporting and record keeping
The PCB Regulations have reporting and record keeping requirements for owners of PCBs or products containing PCBs, owners or operators of PCB storage sites, and for people engaged in their manufacture, processing, use, sale, offer for sale, storage, destruction, import or export.
Reporting
The regulations have different annual reporting requirements depending on many factors including the type of equipment, PCB concentration, and permitted activity.
For PCBs and products containing them, the last activity (e.g. in use, stored, sent to transfer site or destruction facility, destroyed, etc.) must be reported for each calendar year, as shown below:
-
Section 32.1: Equipment still in use at nuclear facility
Subject of report: Equipment that contains PCBs at a nuclear facility whose use is permitted
Status/activity to report: In use
-
Section 32.2: Military equipment still in use
Subject of report: Military equipment that contains PCBs in any concentration whose use is permitted
Status/activity to report: In use
-
Section 32.3: Museum object still in use
Subject of report: Object that contains PCBs in any concentration whose use is permitted
Status/activity to report: In use
-
Subsection 33(3): End of use of equipment — 2026
Subject of report:
- EquipmentFootnote 1 with a PCB concentration of 50 mg/kg or more but less than 500 mg/kg (not located at prescribed locationsFootnote 2)
- Light ballasts and pole-top transformers and their auxiliary pole-top electrical equipment with a PCB concentration of 50 mg/kg or more
Status/activity to report:- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Subsection 33(4): End of use of equipment — 2026
Subject of report: Current transformers, potential transformers, circuit breakers, reclosers, and bushings that are located at an electrical generation, transmission or distribution facility with a PCB concentration of 500 mg/kg or more
Status/activity to report:
- In use
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Subsection 33(5): Equipment with extension
Subject of report: Equipment for which an extension is granted under subsection 17.1(2) or (4)
Status/activity to report:
- In use
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Subsection 33(6): End of use of equipment — nuclear facilities
Subject of report: Equipment that is referred to in paragraph 22(1)(c) that is no longer being used in accordance with section 15.1
Status/activity to report:
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Subsection 33(7): End of use of military equipment
Subject of report: Military equipment that contains PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more and that is no longer being used in accordance with section 15.2
Status/activity to report:
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Subsection 33(8): End of use of museum objects
Subject of report: Objects that contain PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more and that is no longer being retained for display or research purposes under section 15.3
Status/activity to report:
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Section 34: Research
Subject of report: PCBs or products containing PCBs to be processed or used for the purpose of research in accordance with section 8
Status/activity to report:
- Offered for sale
- Sold
- Processed
- Used
-
Section 35: Colouring pigments
Subject of report: Colouring pigment containing PCBs produced incidentally with a concentration of less than 50 mg/kg (the annual average concentration of PCBs produced incidentally shall not exceed 25 mg/kg)
Status/activity to report:
- Manufactured
- Imported
- Exported
-
Section 36: Solid products containing PCBs
Subject of report: Solid products containing PCBs with a concentration of less than 50 mg/kg that are manufactured:
- using bulk solid products with a PCB concentration of less than 50 mg/kg
- before September 5, 2008
Status/activity to report: Manufactured
-
Section 37: Stored PCBs or products — PCB concentration of 50 mg/kg or more
Subject of report: Stored PCBs or products containing PCBs with a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more that are not stored at transfer sites or destruction facilities (excluding equipment under section 33)
Status/activity to report:
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
-
Section 38: Stored PCBs or products — transfer site or destruction facility
Subject of report: Stored PCBs or products containing PCBs at transfer sites and destruction facilities
Status/activity to report:
- Stored
- Sent to transfer site
- Sent to destruction facility
- Destroyed
Other reporting subsections: Subsections 33(1) and 33(2)
- Liquids and equipment subject to reporting these subsections must already be destroyed in accordance with the timelines of the regulations
Reporting Deadlines
Annual reports must be submitted no later than March 31 of the following year, except for reports to be submitted under subsection 33(3). Subsection 33(3) reports must be prepared for every calendar year, however the submission deadlines vary as shown below:
- Period covered: 2022 to 2025
- Submission deadline: March 31, 2026
- Period covered: 2026
- Submission deadline: March 31, 2027
- Period covered: 2027
- Submission deadline: March 31, 2028
- Period covered: 2028 to 2030
- Submission deadline: March 31, 2031
All reports outlined above must be submitted using the Environment and Climate Change Canada online reporting system, ePCB, acessible through the Single Window Information Manager.
Reporting releases into the environment
The release or the likelihood of a release of PCBs to the environment in contravention to section 5 of the regulations must be reported to the Regional Director, Environmental Enforcement Division, Enforcement Branch of the Department of the Environment in the region where the release occurs or is likely to occur.
See the “PCB releases to the environment” factsheet for more information on verbal notification and reporting requirements.
Types of records and retention
Records demonstrating the manufacture, processing, use, sale, offer for sale, storage, destruction, import or export of PCBs or products containing PCBs in accordance with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and these regulations must be kept by the following individuals:
- owners of PCBs or products containing them
- individuals engaged in any of the above activities
- owners or operators of a PCB storage site
Records must be kept at the principal place of business or at the place where the activity is conducted for at least 5 years after the completion of the activity or the destruction of the material.
Owners or operators of a PCB storage site must keep inspection records that include:
- a list of all items inspected
- a description of any deficiencies that were found
- a description of measures taken to remedy the deficiencies found
- the inspectors' names and inspection dates
See the “PCB storage” factsheet for more information.
Disclaimer
The guidance contained in this page should be used for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal guidance, since it does not reflect all the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) or the PCB Regulations. Thus, should there be any discrepancy between this factsheet and the Act or the regulations, the Act and the regulations will prevail.