Reorienting federal regulation of pesticides to reduce risk: A health and environmental imperative

The document argues that Canada's current pesticide trajectory is incompatible with its international commitments to reduce pesticide risk by half by 2030. It identifies a significant increase in pesticide sales—up 47% since 2011—and criticizes the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) for failing to systematically manage overall risks. The authors propose eleven priorities, including phasing out hazardous active ingredients, prohibiting cosmetic pesticide use, strengthening protections for species at risk, and expanding environmental monitoring to include cumulative risks and non-active ingredients.

• Pesticide sales in Canada have increased significantly, with 132 million kilograms of active ingredients sold in 2021, representing a 47 per cent increase since 2011.
• The current regulatory approach by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is insufficient because it evaluates individual pesticides but does not systematically manage the overall risks of the growing number of approved products.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (2024). Reorienting federal regulation of pesticides to reduce risk: A health and environmental imperative. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strengthening-federal-pesticide-regulation.pdf#new_tab

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Reorienting federal regulation of pesticides to reduce risk: A health and environmental imperative. 2024. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strengthening-federal-pesticide-regulation.pdf#new_tab.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Reorienting federal regulation of pesticides to reduce risk: A health and environmental imperative |date=February 2024 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strengthening-federal-pesticide-regulation.pdf#new_tab |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironment2024reorienting, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Reorienting federal regulation of pesticides to reduce risk: A health and environmental imperative}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strengthening-federal-pesticide-regulation.pdf#new_tab}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }