Providing accurate advice on the choice and the use of pesticides

Do you provide advice on the selection or use of pesticides? Whether you are involved in selling pesticides or acting as an advisor, you are on the front line in promoting compliance with the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA).

A shared responsibility

Pesticide users are responsible for complying with the PCPA, for their pesticide use practices, and for following label instructions.

However, users rely on the expertise of their distributors, consultants, agrologists and extension staff to advise them properly. They can sometimes attribute non-compliant practices to the individuals or businesses who advised them.

Therefore, promoting the proper, safe and compliant use of pesticides should be the priority of anyone providing advice. This includes selecting a registered pesticide for the intended use, and strictly following the conditions of use on the label, such as target pests, application method and rates, while adhering to all safety precautions and best management practices.

Advice or advertising?

According to the PCPA, it is forbidden to “advertise a pest control product in a way that is false, misleading or likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, value, quantity, composition, safety or registration.”^{Footnote 1}

As such, providing advice that is inaccurate with the PCPA regarding, for example, the selection or use of a pesticide, could be considered non-compliant advertising under the PCPA and a scenario on which Health Canada could take enforcement action.

Benefits for you

In addition to reducing the risk of non-compliance with the PCPA, keeping up to date with Health Canada decisions regarding pesticide cancellations, label changes and timelines enables you to provide reliable, high-quality advice to your customers. You can also explore alternative solutions with them, if needed, and support overall compliance with the PCPA.

Information at your fingertips

Every year, a number of pesticides are either no longer authorized for sale, or have had changes made to their approved conditions of use or on their label, often as a result of Health Canada's re-evaluation process. Here are some tools you can use to keep up with these changes:

• Pesticide decisions and updates: Find information on re-evaluation and special review decisions, as well as on new product registrations.
• Pesticide Product Information Database: Search, sort and filter information on registered pesticide products.
• Label search tool: Retrieve the latest version of a pesticide label.

Health Canada’s Pesticide Compliance Program (PCP) provides a wide range of resources summarizing key regulatory requirements and changes to pesticides registration. The PCP also distributes each month a report on pesticide registration cancellations, by e-mail to any interested stakeholder.

To receive this report, contact us at pcp-pcp@hc-sc-gc.ca