On August 25, 2025, Health Canada released its first annual report (the Report) summarizing anonymized self assessment data received in respect of the reporting period beginning September 29, 2023, and ending September 28, 2024, from signatories to the Canadian Product Safety Pledge for Consumer Products and Cosmetics (the Pledge). The Report aggregates information from Pledge signatories regarding the outcomes and effectiveness of their product safety initiatives and their adherence to their commitments under the Pledge.
The Pledge
In September 2023, Health Canada released the Pledge as part of its Consumer Product Safety Program (the Program). The Pledge is a voluntary commitment undertaken by online marketplaces to strengthen and improve product safety. Signatories pledged to abide by 14 commitments that are focused into four themes:
- detecting and preventing the sale of unsafe products;
- co-operating with Health Canada;
- raising product safety awareness amongst sellers; and
- empowering consumers on product safety issues.
Broadly speaking, these commitments encourage signatories to: (i) establish systems that list recalled, prohibited, or non-compliant products, (ii) implement mechanisms to review third-party sellers and prevent the listing of unsafe products online, (iii) conduct internal audits for compliance, (iv) evaluate consumer-Reported product issues, and (v) regularly assess new ways to improve on their commitments under the Pledge. This voluntary product safety framework entrenches key metrics that encourage responsiveness, including removing products within two business days of receiving requests from Health Canada, providing Health Canada with information regarding third parties selling recalled, prohibited, or non-compliant products, and assisting Health Canada in contacting such third-party sellers.
The report
The Report summarizes the signatories’ use of various mechanisms and specific actions focused on furthering each of their 14 commitments. To facilitate sellers’ compliance to Canadian regulations, signatories:
- implemented automated processes to identify global recalls to effect removal of such products from its marketplace;
- used artificial intelligence tools to filter and identify recalled products and to prevent their future listing;
- created safety and recall alert pages, systems to validate bilingual labels, and improved monitoring and blocking tools;
- made available product safety guidelines and improved communication tools; and
- enhanced consumer autonomy by making product listings more accurate and accessible, developing consumer reporting mechanisms and providing recall notices directly to consumers.
The Report also highlights the use of screening mechanisms on third-party sellers to identify and remove accounts associated with previously banned third-party sellers.
The Report identifies that there are still some areas for improvement in detecting and preventing the sale of recalled, prohibited, or non-compliant products, noting that some third-party sellers circumvented online marketplace screening measures by changing their product names. The Report indicates that Health Canada will continue to work collaboratively with online marketplaces to continue strengthening protections for consumers.
Future impact
The Report offers product safety leaders and retailers a framework for assessing internal compliance mechanisms against identified product safety key performance indicators. Of note, the Report highlights the Health Canada’s encouragement as to the use of artificial intelligence to achieve the principles and commitments under Pledge. Retailers, particularly those who enable the third parties to sell their products through their online platforms, should consider evaluating their current practices in light of these insights to ensure alignment with Health Canada’s evolving expectations of best practices.
