Although Canada adopted formal organic standards federally in 2009, Ontario, its largest province has lagged behind in regulating organic food and agriculture. All that may soon change, however.
Bill 153 had its first reading carried in Ontario’s Legislative Assembly last month and seeks to enact the Organic Products Act, 2017. The Act specifically “prohibits the marketing and labelling of products as ‘organic’ unless they have been certified as organic in accordance with the Act. It also requires that the Minister assigned the administration of the Act create a register of all products that are certified as organic, and that the Minister periodically update the register.”
Once this bill becomes law, producers and distributors of organic foods and products to be sold in Ontario will have to comply with regulations for farming or manufacturing practices to be able to claim their goods are organic (biologique in French). This should be well-received by Ontario consumers who buy many foods and products labelled “organic”, yet without consistent regulation there’s more opportunity for consumer fraud or confusion when buying organic. Ontario’s organic market is the largest of all and continues to grow by 10% each year.
The introduction of this bill is good news for the Organic Council of Canada which called out Ontario for not regulating its organics industry in a report as recently as July of this year, while also praising Quebec’s leadership.
Other Canadian provinces already adopted the federal standards, notably British Columbia (1993 voluntarily, 2016-2018 by act), Manitoba (2013), New Brunswick (2014) and Nova Scotia (2015). Quebec enacted its first act in 1996 and regulated its organic industry by 2006 and its system is considered to be one of the strongest. So far, the rest of the provinces and territories do not regulate organics.
The Organic Council of Canada states on their web site; “Organic regulation will create a more level playing field for organic businesses in Ontario and protect consumers.”
The Council also urges all provinces and territories to adopt two more recommendations in addition to regulation; to create an improved data collections system for organics, and to increase organic policies and programs across all jurisdictions.
