Archived - Expedited access to household cleaning products, hand soaps and body soaps to help fight COVID-19

In light of the unprecedented demand and urgent need for products that can help fight COVID-19, including household cleaning products, hand soaps and body soaps, as an interim policy, Health Canada is facilitating access to products that may not fully meet current regulatory requirements.

In Canada, household cleaning products are classified as consumer products and covered under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA). Hand soaps and body soaps are cosmetics regulated under the Food and Drugs Act (FDA). These products are typically subject to various regulatory requirements, such as bilingual labelling.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Canada has implemented an interim policy to facilitate access to household cleaning products, hand soaps and body soaps that are not fully compliant with existing regulatory requirements (for example, unilingual labelling, the ingredients listed on the label are not listed exactly as outlined in the regulations). However, the interim policy does not change the enforcement priority for all other regulatory requirements under the applicable regulations that apply to household cleaning products and hand soaps and body soaps.

Health Canada uses a post-market approach in regulating the safety of consumer products and cosmetics in Canada. This means that there is no pre-approval required, nor review of efficacy, before industry can sell its products. Industry, including manufacturers, distributors and importers, is responsible for making sure that its consumer products and cosmetics are safe, and compliant with the legislation.

The Department will continue to update Canadians on any further efforts to increase supplies of cleaning products that may be used to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic situation is resolved, Health Canada will again enforce all labelling requirements for these products on the market.