Information and privacy notice specific to the transformation agenda of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency

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• A new approach to transparency on meetings and engagement activities with stakeholders
• Formal consultation process
• No confidentiality
• Privacy notice

A new approach to transparency on meetings and engagement activities with stakeholders

The following notice explains how Health Canada will handle information from meetings and engagement activities with stakeholders related to the Transformation Agenda for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

PMRA is currently advancing a Transformation Agenda that includes a number of initiatives intended to:

• further strengthen human health and environmental protection through modernized business processes for the review of pesticides;
• improve transparency and public access to information and data across the regulatory pesticide processes; and
• increase the use of comprehensive, real-world data on water monitoring, crop production and pesticide use, as well as independent scientific advice to better inform pesticide regulatory decisions.

To support implementation of these transformation initiatives, a targeted review of the related provisions of the Pest Control Products Act is being undertaken.

Health Canada is committed to openness and transparency and evidence-based decision making. Health Canada is making more information available to Canadians than ever before and Canadians are being offered more opportunities to participate in discussions on government policies and priorities.

Consultation activities on PMRA's Transformation Agenda initiatives are designed to promote the involvement of, and consider the views and perspectives of a wide variety of participants who are interested in or affected by those PMRA initiatives. This includes but is not limited to: citizens, indigenous organizations, industry, non-governmental organizations, academia, and user groups.

Health Canada will make available information about meetings and engagement activities with stakeholders in which views, opinions and information are relayed with the intent to inform the development of policies, guidance, regulations or legislation related to the PMRA Transformation Agenda. The documents related to these meetings and engagement activities will also be made available.

The list of meetings and engagement activities is presented in the form of a table on Canada.ca. The table includes the date, subject and purpose of the meetings. The title of any documents provided during meetings will also be published. The documents listed in the table will be accessible to members of the public upon request, for the sole purpose of ensuring greater transparency. These documents could include the names and titles of the stakeholders who participated in the meetings listed.

The disclosures made as part of this new policy are not part of the consultation process. Health Canada is therefore not seeking any feedback on any of these documents.

Oral or written communication for the purposes of making simple enquiries or requests for information and that do not have any relevance, in Health Canada's view, to the development of policies related to the PMRA transformation will not be published.

Personal information will be treated in accordance with the Privacy Act.

For the purpose of this policy, stakeholders are defined as groups, industry, external organizations or advocates to the Government of Canada who have a specific interest in, have some influence on, or are affected by, a given legislative, regulatory, policy or program transformation initiative of PMRA. The definition excludes individuals representing themselves, experts consulted by Health Canada, federal departments or partners, other levels of government and foreign governments, except when these individuals have elected to participate in broader engagement activities as part of the transformation agenda.

This new approach will help improve public trust, openness and transparency around stakeholder engagement activities related to the PMRA transformation and beyond formal consultation processes.

Formal consultation process

Health Canada invites all stakeholders to provide written submissions in response to formal consultations. These written submissions will not be published in the table of correspondence and all meetings, but will instead be summarized in reports, such as a What we Heard Report, which are made publicly available.

A written submission is defined as electronic or mailed correspondence that represents a formal response to a proposal outlined in a consultation document.

A formal consultation is defined as a process where Health Canada invites Canadians and stakeholders to comment on new or potential changes to its policies, regulations or guidance and for which there is a defined start and end date for receiving feedback. Formal consultation does not include the public consultation process that takes place in accordance with section 28 of the PCPA for proposed registration decisions of specific pesticides.

No confidentiality

Information, views and opinions intended to inform the development of specific policies related to the Transformation Agenda of PMRA beyond what is part of a written submission to a formal consultation, will not be treated confidentially by Health Canada. Health Canada will not treat differently correspondence or documents marked as confidential in this context.

Notes or documents provided to Health Canada for meetings or engagement activities may be released, including in the context of requests under the Access to Information Act.

Privacy notice

The personal information you provide to Health Canada is collected pursuant to section 4 of the Department of Health Act and the Pest Control Products Act, and is governed in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Purpose of collection

Personal information is collected for stakeholder communications related to the specific PMRA transformation initiatives

Other uses or disclosures

Your personal information may be made publicly available, including on Canada.ca. In limited and specific situations, your personal information may be disclosed without your consent in accordance with subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act for the purposes on being transparent in accordance with this new approach to meetings and engagement activities with stakeholders. This can include names and titles of the stakeholders who participated in the meetings listed, as well as the views or opinions they shared.

For more information

This personal information collection is described in Canada.ca, available online at Information about programs and information holdings. Refer to the standard personal information banks on Outreach Activities PSU 938 and Public Communications PSU 914.

Your rights under the Privacy Act

In addition to protecting your personal information, the Privacy Act gives you the right to request access to and correction of your personal information. For more information about these rights, or about our privacy practices, please contact pmra.info-arla@hc-sc.gc.ca. You also have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you think your personal information has been handled improperly.