About the Natural Health Product Directorate

 

The Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) has changed its name to the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) subsequent to its recently expanded mandate to include the oversight of non-prescription and disinfectant drugs in addition to natural health products (NHPs). Please note that we are currently modifying documents to reflect this change.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Who we are & what we do...

As part of the Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada, the Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) is the regulating authority for natural health products (NHPs) for sale in Canada. Our role is to ensure that Canadians have ready access to NHPs that are safe, effective and of high quality while respecting freedom of choice and philosophical and cultural diversity. The NHPD is composed of the following areas:

Director General's Office

This Office coordinates the strategic direction of the NHPD, providing vision, purpose and principle-centered leadership.

Bureau of Business Planning and Operations

This bureau is responsible for managing the finances and human resources for the Directorate. All administrative functions are channeled through this bureau and they are considered a service bureau for the other bureaus within the NHPD.

Bureau of Policy Development and Regulatory Affairs

This bureau is responsible for developing policies and guidelines for the Natural Health Products Regulations.

Bureau of Product Review and Assessment

This bureau is responsible for managing and processing submissions for product, site and clinical trial authorizations. It also works with Branch stakeholders on post market surveillance.

Bureau of Promotion, Liaison and Development

This bureau is responsible for implementing the Education and Outreach Campaign for these Regulations, information dissemination to the public, and internal and external networking.

Natural Health Product Research Program

This program supports research and knowledge-based development through various means, both individually and in partnership with other funding agencies, most notably the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Our Advisory Committees...

The NHPD has two advisory committees: the Management Advisory Committee (M.A.C.) and the Expert Advisory Committee (E.A.C.). Comprised of industry and consumer stakeholders, the MAC advises the NHPD on the administration of the Natural Health Products Regulations. Members of professional and scientific communities make up the EAC, which provides expert advice to the NHPD on issues related to the safety, quality and efficacy of NHPs.

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