By Tanner Vandenberg, CEO, FlexPak Leak Detectors Inc.
Canadian packaging standards come from a handful of federal laws, plus provincial rules on language and recycling. Which ones apply depends on what is inside the package. Non-food consumer products fall under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. Food falls under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations and the Food and Drug Regulations. Drugs fall under Health Canada.
We build package leak detectors in St. Catharines, Ontario, and a lot of our customers are Canadian food plants. So this guide covers the labelling rules most people search for, and then the part that usually gets left out: how you show a sealed package actually stays sealed.
Overview of Canadian Packaging Regulations
Here is who regulates what. Most compliance questions start with working out which row you are in.
| What is in the package | Main law | Who enforces it |
|---|---|---|
| Non-food consumer products | Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations | Competition Bureau |
| Food and beverages | Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations, Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations | Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), with Health Canada setting health and safety policy |
| Drugs | Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations, Part C | Health Canada |
| Dangerous goods in transport | Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations | Transport Canada |
Since January 15, 2019, the food labelling rules that used to sit under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act have been consolidated under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and its Regulations, administered by the CFIA. If you sell food, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act is no longer your main labelling reference.
Federal Packaging Requirements
For prepackaged non-food products sold to consumers, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations set three core requirements for the label:
- Product identity: what the product is, in English and French.
- Net quantity: in metric units, in both official languages.
- Dealer name and principal place of business: who it was made or packaged for. This one item may appear in either English or French.
The net quantity also has a minimum type height, set by the size of the principal display surface (section 14(2) of the Regulations):
| Principal display surface area | Minimum type height |
|---|---|
| Up to 32 cm² (5 sq in) | 1.6 mm (1/16 in) |
| Over 32 to 258 cm² (5 to 40 sq in) | 3.2 mm (1/8 in) |
| Over 258 to 645 cm² (40 to 100 sq in) | 6.4 mm (1/4 in) |
| Over 645 to 2,580 cm² (100 to 400 sq in) | 9.5 mm (3/8 in) |
| Over 2,580 cm² (400 sq in) | 12.7 mm (1/2 in) |
Breaking the core labelling sections of the Act carries a fine of up to $5,000 on summary conviction, or up to $10,000 on indictment (section 20 of the Act).
Provincial Packaging Guidelines
Provinces add two kinds of rules on top of the federal ones:
- Language. Quebec’s Charter of the French Language has its own rules on French on product packaging, and they go further than the federal bilingual requirement. If you sell into Quebec, check the Office québécois de la langue française guidance, not just the federal rules.
- Recycling and producer responsibility. Each province runs its own extended producer responsibility program for packaging waste, for example Ontario’s Blue Box program and British Columbia’s Recycling Regulation. Who pays and who reports differs by province, so check each one you ship into.
Product-Specific Packaging Standards
Beyond the label, each product category has its own rules about the package itself. For food, drugs and medical products, that means the package has to protect what is inside and must not contaminate it.
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Food and Beverage Packaging
Two rules shape food packaging requirements in Canada:
- The package must not contaminate the food. Section B.23.001 of the Food and Drug Regulations reads: “No person shall sell any food in a package that may yield to its contents any substance that may be injurious to the health of a consumer of the food.”
- A licence and a preventive control plan. Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, most businesses that make, package or label food for interprovincial trade or export need a CFIA licence and a written preventive control plan. Packaging is part of that plan.
The Regulations also define a hermetically sealed package as one that, due to its design, is secure against the entry of micro-organisms, including spores. For a low-acid food in a package like that (pH above 4.6 and water activity above 0.85), the seal is what keeps it safe.
How Canadian Food Plants Verify Seal Integrity
CFIA’s guidance on hermetically sealed containers (last updated June 20, 2023) is direct about pouches. It says to control the critical parameters during pouch closure, keep sealing surfaces “flat, smooth and parallel,” and make sure the sealing tool holds them together “at the proper pressure and temperature, and for the proper time.” It also says to keep records of post-process container integrity evaluations.
The guidance tells you to control the seal. It does not name a test method. In practice, the plants we work with verify seals on the line with one of these:
- Packages with headspace (snack bags, pouches, trays with lidding film): ASTM D3078 bubble emission. The package goes under water in a vacuum chamber, and a steady stream of bubbles shows you exactly where the seal is leaking. A standard test holds vacuum for about 30 seconds.
- Vacuum-sealed packs with no headspace (meat, cheese): the same D3078 test, using a VAC attachment that adds a shot of air so the pack can be bubble tested.
- Liquid-filled bottles and sachets: dry chamber testing under ASTM D5094 for threaded or lug-style closures.
- Retort pouches: the highest-stakes case, because the product is low-acid and shelf stable. See our guide to retort pouch leak testing.
For the records CFIA asks you to keep, the FlexPak touchscreen controllers store test recipes and log each result to an SD card, so every test has a date, a setting and a pass or fail result. Compliance also has a verification side. Sealed food packaging has to be shown to hold, not just declared compliant, and that check is done on the line with leak detection equipment on the packaging line.
Pharmaceutical Packaging
Health Canada sets the labelling rules for pharmaceutical drugs. The main ones:
- Section C.01.004 of the Food and Drug Regulations sets what must appear on a drug’s inner and outer labels, including the manufacturer’s or sponsor’s name and address.
- The expiration date must appear on the inner and outer labels.
- Directions for use must be in both English and French when the drug is sold without a prescription in an open self-selection area. Prescription-only and hospital-only products do not need bilingual labelling.
For sterile products, the package must also keep its contents sterile until use. That is a container closure integrity question. See our guide to CCIT for sterile products.
Labeling and Language Requirements
Bilingual labelling is the rule most people search for, and it is also the one most often misstated.
Bilingual Labeling Rules
Section 6(2) of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations requires all mandatory label information on a prepackaged product to be shown in both English and French. The one exception is the dealer’s identity and principal place of business, which may be in either language.
The Regulations allow a few narrow exemptions:
- Local products (section 6(3)): products sold in an area where one official language is the mother tongue of less than 10% of residents. The label still has to use the language that meets the 10% threshold.
- Test market products (sections 6(5) and 6(6)): the dealer files a notice six weeks before sale, and the exemption lasts no more than 12 months in total.
- Specialty products (section 6(7)): imported products not widely used in Canada, with no readily available Canadian substitute.
Does all packaging in Canada have to be bilingual?
Most consumer packaging does. If the product is prepackaged and sold to consumers, the mandatory label information has to be in English and French unless one of the exemptions above applies. Food labels follow the same bilingual principle under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. Shipping cases that never reach a consumer are generally outside these rules, but the retail unit inside them is not.
Mandatory Product Information
| Label item | Non-food consumer products | Food |
|---|---|---|
| Product identity or common name | Required, bilingual | Required, bilingual |
| Net quantity, metric | Required, bilingual | Required, bilingual |
| Dealer name and address | Required, either language | Required |
| List of ingredients | Not required under the Act | Required for most prepackaged foods |
| Nutrition facts table | Not applicable | Required for most prepackaged foods |
Safety and Environmental Compliance
Material Restrictions
For food, the general rule is B.23.001: the package must not yield anything harmful to the food. The Regulations then name specific restrictions. For example, section B.23.002 prohibits selling food in polyvinyl chloride packaging that contains octyltin chemicals, with narrow exceptions set out in B.23.003. For a new food packaging material, many suppliers also ask Health Canada for a Letter of No Objection before launch.
Recycling Requirements
There is no single national recycling label law for packaging. Recycling and disposal obligations come mainly from the provincial producer responsibility programs described above, so the rules for a package sold in Ontario and one sold in British Columbia can differ.
International Trade Considerations
Cross-Border Packaging Rules
Imported products follow the same Canadian labelling rules as domestic ones. A US product sold in Canada needs bilingual mandatory information and metric net quantity, even if the US label already carries both US customary and metric units. Many importers add a Canadian sticker or run a separate Canadian label.
Export Packaging Standards
Packages shipped out of Canada have to meet the destination country’s rules, and they have to survive the trip. Air freight is a common problem for sealed flexible packaging, especially on smaller feeder aircraft, because lower air pressure makes packages expand and stresses the seals. Altitude simulation under ASTM D6653 conditions a package to that pressure, and a bubble test afterwards shows whether any seals opened.
Canadian Packaging Standards: Quick Answers
Who enforces packaging and labelling rules in Canada?
The Competition Bureau enforces the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act for non-food products. The CFIA enforces food labelling and food safety rules. Health Canada regulates drug labelling and sets health and safety policy for food.
Is the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act still the rule for food?
No. Since January 15, 2019, its food labelling provisions have been consolidated under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations.
Do Canadian rules require leak testing of food packages?
The rules require food in a hermetically sealed package to stay safe, and CFIA guidance asks processors to control pouch sealing and keep records of container integrity checks. They do not name one test method. Bubble emission testing under ASTM D3078 is a common way to show seals hold, because it shows where a leak is, not just that one exists.
Next Steps
If you are setting up packaging for Canada, sort out the label first, using the tables above. Then check that the seal holds. Tell us your package format and how it ships, and we will recommend the right test setup and send a quote within 24 hours.