Regulatory Cooperation Council and workplace hazardous products
On this page:
- Collaborating on workplace hazardous products
- Variances
- RCC Working Group for Workplace Chemicals
- Work planning
The Canada-United States (U.S.) Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) provides regulators from Canada and the U.S. with the opportunity to work together to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden on stakeholders, while continuing to protect the health and safety of people and the environment.
Learn more about:- Memorandum of Understanding between the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the United States Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs regarding the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council
- Joint Action Plan for the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (December 2011)
- Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council Joint Forward Plan (August 2014)
Collaborating on workplace hazardous products
Under the RCC, Canada collaborates with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (U.S. OSHA) to ensure that the Canadian and U.S. requirements for hazard classification and communication for workplace hazardous products remain aligned to the greatest extent possible with each other and with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) as it is updated.
This collaboration is formalized through memoranda of understanding and a published Regulatory Partnership Statement:
Variances
A "variance" refers to a difference between the Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) and the U.S. Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) that could result in different classification, labelling, safety data sheet (SDS) or other information requirements for a hazardous product in Canada compared to the U.S.
Variances can arise due to the need to preserve the current level of protection for workers or as a result of differences between the respective legislative frameworks in the 2 countries.
Health Canada and the U.S. OSHA continue to work collaboratively to keep the variances to a minimum. Generally, it remains possible to meet both Canadian and U.S. requirements using a single label and SDS for each hazardous product.
Summary of variances between the HPR and HCS
RCC Working Group for Workplace Chemicals
This regulatory partnership is implemented and managed by senior officials in both Health Canada and U.S. OSHA, and operationalized by the Working Group for Workplace Chemicals, established in 2011.
The Working Group for Workplace Chemicals is comprised of technical experts and senior managers from both Health Canada and U.S. OSHA. It meets regularly to discuss progress made in implementing work plans, common challenges or priorities, new initiatives, and the development of new annual work plans.
Work planning
RCC initiatives related to workplace hazardous products and their desired outcomes and activities are elaborated in work plans:
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