Canada Plans Nationwide PFAS Phase-outs

On March 5, 2025, the Government of Canada released the State of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Report and the proposed Risk Management Approach for PFAS, excluding fluoropolymers.

The State of PFAS Report is a wide-ranging government analysis of large-scale science and evidence investigating the impacts of PFAS, following public consultations for the Draft State of PFAS Report in May 2023, and the Updated Draft State of PFAS Report in July 2024, during which over 400 stakeholders provided input.

The class of PFAS is comprised of substances meeting the broad chemical definition by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD): “fluorinated substances that contain at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom (without any H/Cl/Br/I atom attached to it), that is, with a few noted exceptions, any chemical with at least a perfluorinated methyl group (–CF₃) or a perfluorinated methylene group (–CF₂–) is a PFAS”.

Given the conclusion of the State of PFAS Report, the Government of Canada is proposing to add the class of PFAS, excluding fluoropolymers, to Part 2 of Schedule 1 to Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) as toxic substances. This will enable targeted and phased approaches to risk management, as proposed in the table below.

Steps	Estimated dates for risk management actions	Scope	Example of uses / products
Phase 1	Consultation: Summer/Fall 2025 Proposed Regulation: Spring 2027	Use of PFAS (excluding fluoropolymers), not currently regulated, in firefighting foams	PFAS-containing firefighting foams and PFAS fire-suppressing agents
Phase 2	Consultation to follow the publication of proposed Phase 1 Regulations: 2027	Uses of PFAS (excluding fluoropolymers) not needed for the protection of health, safety or the environment, with a particular focus on consumer applications where alternatives are known to exist	cosmetics natural health products and non-prescription drugs food packaging materials, food additives, non-industrial food contact products such as paper plates, cups and bowls paint and coating, adhesive and sealant and other building materials available to consumers consumer mixtures such as cleaning products, waxes and polishes textile uses (including personal protective equipment such as firefighting turnout gear) ski waxes
Phase 3	Consultation to follow Phase 2 risk management: To be determined	Uses of PFAS (excluding fluoropolymers) for which currently there may not be feasible alternatives and requiring further evaluation of the role of PFAS	fluorinated gas applications such as spray-foam insulation and refrigeration prescription drugs (human and veterinary) medical devices industrial food contact materials industrial sectors such as mining and petroleum transport and military applications

The proposed Risk Management Approach is open for consultation to all interested parties until May 7, 2025.

It should be noted that all steps of the phase-out would include consultation with industry and would come with cost-benefit analyses.

In addition, voluntary risk management actions are also being considered to achieve early results to reduce releases of PFAS, as a complement to the proposed regulatory instruments.

Current Actions on PFAS

The proposed phase-out does not make any immediate changes to the regulation of PFAS in Canada. Some risk management controls are ready in place, such as:

Following scientific assessments in 2006 and 2012, PFOS, PFOA and LC-PFCAs, their salts, and their precursors have been governed by the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2012;
Recently, 163 PFAS were added to the National Pollutant Release Inventory, which requires facilities to report annually their releases and disposals of these substances.
Under CEPA’s New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers), new PFAS must be notified and assessed for potential risks.
A mandatory notice with respect to 312 types of PFAS was published under section 71 of CEPA on July 27, 2024, with a reporting deadline of January 29, 2025.