Checking Canadas Domestic Substances List

In Canada you have to notify before you manufacture or import a chemical or polymer that is not on the Domestic Substances List (DSL), once your yearly quantity is about to go over a set threshold. You file with the Minister of the Environment a set number of days before the day you cross that threshold, and you may not proceed until the assessment period has run out. The threshold and lead time depend on four things: whether it is a chemical or a polymer, whether it is on the Non-domestic Substances List (NDSL), whether it is a special category (R&D, contained site-limited intermediate, contained export-only), and how much you handle per calendar year.

The legal trigger (CEPA 1999, s. 81)

• New substance, s. 81(1): where a substance is not on the DSL, "no person shall manufacture or import the substance unless" two things have happened. First, the prescribed information and fee must have been provided "on or before the prescribed date". Second, "the period for assessing the information under section 83 has expired."
• DSL substances flagged for a significant new activity (SNAc), s. 81(3): being on the DSL is not always enough. If the DSL entry shows that s. 81(3) applies, you need a new notification before you use, manufacture or import the substance for the significant new activity listed.
• Substances not on the DSL, s. 81(4): where a Canada Gazette notice applies s. 81(4), you need a notification before you use the substance for the significant new activity named in the notice.
• Exclusions, s. 81(6). Notification does not apply to:
  • uses regulated under another Act listed in CEPA Schedule 2
  • transient reaction intermediates that are not isolated and are not likely to be released
  • impurities, contaminants and partially unreacted materials
  • incidental reaction products
  • quantities that do not exceed the prescribed exempt maximum
• Below the first trigger: the Regulations, s. 4, exempt a substance in a quantity that "does not exceed the quantity that first triggers a requirement to provide information."
• Other exclusions: the Regulations, s. 3, also exclude substances that move through Canada in transit to a location outside Canada.

Thresholds and lead times (New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers), SOR/2005-247)

Each trigger applies when your quantity exceeds the figure in a calendar year. You must file at least the stated number of days before the day it is exceeded.

Category	Exceeds (per calendar year)	File at least	Information
R&D, contained site-limited intermediate or contained export-only chemical (s. 5)	1 000 kg	30 days before	Sch. 1
Same chemicals, s. 5(5)	10 000 kg	30 days before	Update the information, or confirm no change
R&D, contained site-limited intermediate or contained export-only polymer (s. 6)	10 000 kg	30 days before	Sch. 3
Chemical on the NDSL (s. 7)	1 000 kg	30 days before	Sch. 4
	10 000 kg	60 days before	Sch. 5
	50 000 kg, plus aquatic release over 3 kg/day per site, or significant public exposure	75 days before	Extra test data
Chemical not on the NDSL (s. 8)	100 kg	5 days before	Sch. 4
	1 000 kg	60 days before	Sch. 5
	10 000 kg	75 days before	Sch. 6
Any other polymer (s. 10), including reduced regulatory requirement polymers	1 000 kg	30 days before	Sch. 9
Polymer on the NDSL, or with all reactants on the DSL or NDSL (s. 11)	10 000 kg	60 days before	Sch. 10
	50 000 kg, plus release over 3 kg/day per site, or significant public exposure	60 days before	Extra test data
Polymer not on the NDSL (s. 12)	10 000 kg	60 days before	Sch. 11

Reduced regulatory requirement polymers are exempt from the s. 11 and s. 12 information requirements. The s. 9 criteria for them are based on molecular weight and on Schedule 7 and Schedule 8.

Some terms that decide which row you fall in:

• "Contained" means "an absolute release limit of 1 kg per day per site to the aquatic environment after wastewater treatment" (s. 1).
• Biochemicals and biopolymers also need Schedule 2 information.

Ongoing obligations once you have notified (CEPA s. 81)

• You "shall notify the Minister of any corrections to the information as soon as possible after learning of them" (s. 81(11)).
• If you go over a quantity referred to in s. 87(1)(b), you "shall, within 30 days after the quantity is exceeded, notify the Minister" (s. 81(14)).
• Your notification rights pass to anyone you transfer the substance rights to, subject to any prescribed conditions (s. 81(5)).

In practice: first check the DSL, including any S/S′ flag (from our previous exchange). If the substance is not on the DSL, check the NDSL, because that decides whether your first trigger is 100 kg (5 days) or 1 000 kg (30 days) for a chemical. Then plan your filing ahead of the date your annual volume will cross the threshold. Living organisms (biotechnology products) fall under CEPA Part 6, not these Regulations; I did not review that regime here.

Approach: I tried CEPA 1999 and its regulations in the datasets, but the search didn't finish this time. So I read CEPA s. 80-81 and SOR/2005-247 s. 1-12 directly on the official Justice Laws site, where the text is current to 2026-10-19 and the Regulations were last amended 2018-02-02.

Sources:

• CEPA 1999, sections 74-81 (Justice Laws)
• New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers), SOR/2005-247 (Justice Laws)

A significant new activity (SNAc) notice is a Canada Gazette publication under CEPA 1999. It says that, for a named substance, you may not start a listed new activity (a new use, more volume, new release conditions) until you have notified the government and its assessment period has run out. Put simply, the substance is not banned, but a specific change in how it is used needs approval in advance.

What counts as a "significant new activity" (CEPA s. 80) It is any activity that results or may result in the substance entering or being released into the environment:

• (a) "in a quantity or concentration that, in the Ministers' opinion, is significantly greater than" before; or
• (b) "in a manner and circumstances that... are significantly different from" before, or with significantly different environmental exposure (CEPA s. 80).

ECCC's plain-language version: "an activity conducted with a substance in a different quantity, concentration or in different circumstances" (ECCC SNAc provisions).

Two instruments, depending on whether the substance is on the Domestic Substances List (DSL)

	SNAc notice	SNAc order
Covers	Substances not on the DSL (new substances)	Substances on the DSL (existing substances)
Legal basis	Minister publishes a notice saying s. 81(4) applies (s. 85(1))	Minister amends the DSL to say s. 81(3) applies (s. 87(3))
Process	Published in Canada Gazette Part I. Effective on publication unless it says otherwise. Current and previous notifiers are consulted first.	Notice of Intent in Gazette Part I with a 60-day comment period, then the order in Gazette Part II. Effective when the order is registered.
Prohibition	"no person shall use the substance for a significant new activity that is indicated in the notice unless" the prescribed information and fee have been provided and the assessment period has expired	"no person shall use, manufacture or import the substance for a significant new activity that is indicated on the List" unless the same conditions are met

Sources: CEPA s. 81, 85, 87; ECCC SNAc provisions.

The wording differs slightly between the two: the s. 81(4) prohibition for notices names only "use", while the s. 81(3) prohibition for orders names use, manufacture and import.

What you have to do if one applies to you

• Submit a Significant New Activity Notification (SNAN) with the information the notice or order specifies, "within the specified regulatory time period prior to the new activity being undertaken." Each notice or order sets out what information it needs (s. 87(4) for orders).
• Wait out the assessment period. ECCC and Health Canada assess the SNAN, and "the new activity cannot be undertaken until the assessment period expires." Under ECCC's policy, the period is "typically" 90 days for new substances and for DSL substances not on Schedule 1, 120 days for organisms, and 180 days for Schedule 1 (toxic) substances (ECCC SNAc policy).
• Possible outcomes: if the substance is found not to be toxic, you may go ahead once the period ends. If risks are found, the Minister may impose risk-management measures. The notice or order may also be amended or rescinded.
• Pass it down the supply chain: "Every person who transfers the physical possession or control of the substance shall notify all persons to whom the possession or control is transferred" of the obligations (s. 86(1)).

Scope limits SNAc requirements do not apply to transient reaction intermediates, impurities, contaminants or partially unreacted materials. "In some circumstances" they also do not apply to wastes, mixtures or manufactured items. However, "individual components of a mixture may be notifiable."

When ECCC uses them Where there is "reasonable suspicion that new activities with respect to a substance may result in new or increased risks to the environment or human health" (ECCC SNAc policy).

Finding out if a substance is caught On the DSL, an S or S′ flag means SNAc requirements apply (the flags from our first exchange). ECCC also publishes a dataset of all SNAc notices and orders, and states that "the Canada Gazette publications are the official source." Only the activities named in the notice or order trigger a SNAN. Any other activity with the substance does not.

Approach: My searches of the CEPA Act and Regulations and of the CEPA Registry notices and orders in the datasets didn't complete this time. So I read CEPA s. 80-87 on the Justice Laws site and ECCC's SNAc provisions and SNAc policy pages on canada.ca.

Sources:

• CEPA 1999, s. 74-81 (Justice Laws)
• CEPA 1999, s. 82-88 (Justice Laws)
• ECCC: Significant new activity provisions
• ECCC: Policy on the Use of Significant New Activity Provisions of CEPA 1999
• ECCC: SNAc requirements on the DSL