The Consumer Product Safety Program (CPSP) of Health Canada is aware of these challenging and difficult times in light of COVID-19. Health Canada understands that industry is facing a number of challenges related to COVID-19 and as a result may be facing unusual pressures concerning their mandatory incident reporting requirements under Section 14 of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA).

The following provides clarification information related to:

• Timelines for the determination of awareness during COVID-19
• Subsection 14(2) reporting
• Subsection 14(3) reporting and extension requests

Timelines for the determination of awareness during COVID-19
Health Canada’s online guidance recommends up to two days for the determination of awareness from when industry first hears about an event to when industry decides it is an incident or not. We understand that industry may not be able to review new or existing events to determine if they are reportable under the CCPSA (i.e., to determine “awareness”) within this period given the circumstances. While CPSP understands that it may take more time, we encourage industry to continue to make best efforts to evaluate events within a reasonable timeframe and practice due diligence in identifying health and safety risks.

Subsection 14(2) reporting
While awareness may take longer than usual, for any events that are determined to be ‘incidents’ under subsection 14(1) of the CCPSA, CPSP continues to expect the subsection 14(2) incident report within 2 days after this “awareness”.  The subsection 14(2) report serves as an important, early indication of a possible incident to Health Canada.  We ask that industry make best efforts under the circumstances to respect this timeframe.  When doing so, please submit all of the information in your control related to the incident.  We understand that at the time of submitting a subsection 14(2) report, it is possible that you may not be in possession of all details (for example, you may not be fully certain of all aspects or details of what happened). CPSP does not expect industry to conduct a complete investigation or wait for absolute certainty when submitting the subsection 14(2) report. 

Subsection 14(3) reporting and extension requests
As it relates to the subsection 14(3) reporting (and the 10-day legislated timeframe), we recognize given the circumstances that an investigation may be unusually challenging. Should you expect the need for an extension, CPSP would note that an extension request can be made at the time of submittal of the subsection 14(2) report (or as soon as possible). Please use the online reporting form (linked below) and the existing 14(3) extension process detailed in section 6.2 of the online guidance for details on how to submit those requests.

https://health.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/advisories-warnings-recalls/report-incident-involving-consumer-product-b.html

As always, we continue to encourage any reporting industry members to communicate with CPSP officials on any changes related to your business operations.  Please specify these details in your report(s) to the Program, or directly to the Program via: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/contact-us/regional-product-safety-offices.html

For further guidance on incident reporting, please visit:
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/legislation-guidelines/acts-regulations/canada-consumer-product-safety-act/industry/guide-mandatory-reporting-section-14.html