Have you ever used supplements to:
Help you sleep?
Get your kids pooping?
Navigate PMS symptoms?
Accelerate healing after illness or surgery?
Manage the unpleasant symptoms of GERD?
Improve athletic performance?
If supplements have helped you improve your overall health or supported your specific health concerns, then keep reading…
71% of Canadians use Natural Health Products (NHPs) like vitamins and supplements toothpaste, sunscreen, deodorant, probiotics, and infant/children’s products as part of their proactive health and well-being.[1] As Canadians take a more active role in their health, the sector continues to grow - across the country, NHPs are available at pharmacies, naturopathic clinics, health food stores, grocery stores, and independent retailers, employing 54,000 Canadians in the sector.[2]
Health Canada is making significant regulatory changes to natural health products, leading to increased costs and fewer products in store shelves. These unnecessary changes will treat natural health products like pharmaceutical drugs. This over-regulation will negatively impact how these brands can do business in Canada and will ultimately have a negative effect on you, the consumer.
What happened:
Health Canada announced a public consultation regarding new fees which would raise the price of NHPs - this was to be open for 90 days, beginning on May 12, 2023.[3] However, on June 22, 2023 the government passed Bill C-47 - and the sections pertaining to NHPs (500-504) were well-hidden inside a lengthy budget bill.[4] This bill was passed much earlier than anticipated, was not reviewed by the Standing Committee on Health (since it was labelled as a budget bill), and Canadians were not made aware.
What should have happened:
Health Canada should have introduced a standalone bill to amend the Food and Drugs Act. The bill would have ended up at the Standing Committee on Health - a committee comprised of experts on the regulation of health products.[5] Public consultation should not have been cut short - brands, retailers, and consumers did not get a fair say. Ideally, discussion of proposed fees should have been pushed back until completion of the Self-Care Framework by the NNHPD (Natural and Non-Prescription Products Directorate).
For historical context - Health Canada first attempted to pass these regulations in 2008 with Bill C-51, but the pushback was so strong that the bill did not pass.[6]
Potential impact:
1 out 5 NHP brands say they are seriously considering leaving the Canadian market due to Health Canada’s new rules.[7] This could have serious consequences to our patient treatment plans and care - many small to medium-sized businesses will be forced to shut down Canadian operations. Prices will increase and product availability will suffer.
Health Canada is adding additional fees for NHP developers, manufacturers, and distributors - all of whom will likely increase their individual prices before they even reach the customer.
Healthcare practitioners will have limited ability to help their patients assess which NHPs are best suited to their particular needs. There will be less access to new and innovative products that offer a better clinical benefit than their dated versions.
There will be an increased influx of unregulated products from international markets. As a clinic that recognizes the importance of high-quality products for our patients, this is a problematic, and potentially dangerous development.
Strict labelling regulations will cause packaging sizes to double but for the same amount of product. This creates a dramatic increase in the use of plastic, fuel, glue, wood and water and will have serious implications on our environmental footprint.
TO BE CLEAR - as health care professionals, we are all for good regulation on NHPs to ensure accessibility to high-quality products. The regulatory changes outlined in Bill C-47 seem to be a BIG overreach in NHP regulation without proper consideration of the negative impact these changes will have.
We believe it is essential to have access to high-quality supplements at an affordable price.
We need your help in this advocacy effort if we are to succeed in getting Health Canada to reconsider its proposal.
Please reach out to your MP by clicking HERE and tell them to Save Our Supplements.
Please sign Petition e-4474 and request Health Canada suspend the proposed fees discussion until the Self-Care Framework has been completed and the NNHPD has cleared its current backlog.
Please print off this letter template and send a paper copy to your MPs office. Traditional letters get more attention and have more impact - letters let elected officials know the impact of their decisions.
[1] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/natural-non-prescription/regulation/about-products.html
[2] Deloitte LLP. (May 2023). Economic Contribution Study of Canada’s Natural Health Product Sector.
[3] https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consultation-proposed-fees-natural-health-products/consultation-process.html
[4] https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-47/royal-assent
[5] https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/HESA/About
[6] https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/criticism-of-natural-health-products-bill-c-51-mounts-1.719529