MONTREAL, Dec. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A coalition of nearly 30 civil society and academic organizations is urging the federal government to halt plans announced in the latest budget to weaken Canada’s pesticide process, and instead launch a long-overdue public debate and comprehensive reform. The Coalition warns that the proposed changes would reduce protections for farmers, public health, and the environment.
At the center of the Coalition’s concerns is the government’s intention to abolish the cyclical re-evaluation of pesticides. Eliminating this mechanism would further weaken a regulatory system that already heavily favours the agrochemical industry and its lobbyists, and puts more power in the hands of a regulator that has lost the trust of the public. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency spent $42 million on the “transformation agenda” between 2022 and 2025, and made no improvements.
The Coalition also stresses that the statutory review of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) is nearly four years overdue. The law requires parliamentary review at least every seven years, and the last review took place in 2015.
“No modification of the PCPA should be made without full understanding of current scientific evidence and an open debate involving all stakeholders, not only the pesticide industry,” said Pascal Priori, coordinator of Victims of Pesticides Québec (an initiative of the Quebec Association of Public Health).
Recent GBH controversies highlight regulatory flaws
Recent events have exposed shortcomings of the current regulatory framework. A decades-old study concluding that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) posed no health risks, long relied upon by regulators worldwide, was formally retracted after it was revealed to have been ghostwritten by Monsanto’s employees and to have ignored available independent research.
Independent scientific studies highlight the multiple and serious health impacts of pesticides. In 2015, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as carcinogenic to animals and probably carcinogenic to humans. More recently, the Ramazzini Institute’s Global Glyphosate Study found that low-dose exposure caused multiple types of cancer in rats, reinforcing IARC’s earlier conclusions.
“Glyphosate-based herbicides contribute to the increasing cancer rates, and constitute a substantial economic burden. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the cost of cancer on Canada’s healthcare system and patients reached $37.7 billion in 2024, ” said Meg Sears, chair of Prevent Cancer Now.
An opportunity to improve pesticide regulation in Canada
“Canada falls short of responsible pesticide regulation to protect public health and the environment. It focuses on the “active ingredient” and does not assess pesticide formulations; does not base its evaluation on recent independent scientific literature review; and does not give full public access to scientific data and studies used in the evaluation process,” said Marie-Hélène Bacon, Researcher and coordinator of Ecohealth Research Collective on Pesticides, Policies and Alternatives (CREPPA).
“The science model used by PMRA is antiquated and does not protect Canadians from the risks of pesticides. We demand a regulator who uses up to date scientific thinking, methods and evidence to assess the true risks of pesticides. We need an overhaul of the entire scientific approach,” said Mary Lou McDonald, President, Safe Food Matters.
Therefore, the Coalition calls on the federal government to:
1- Reform the pesticide assessment process to ensure it is based on marketed pesticide products, up to date independent scientific knowledge, and real life multiple exposures.
2. Maintain periodic and ad-hoc reviews of active substances and pesticide products, including biocontrols, to respond quickly to emerging risks or harms, and to identify least-toxic approaches.
3. Conduct a comprehensive review of the entire PCPA and its application, as required by the PCPA, and not just the re-evaluation provisions, with a view to improving the scientific approach of PMRA.
4. Launch an expedited special review of glyphosate-based herbicides, under subsection 17(4) of the PCPA, including carcinogenicity, using up-to-date science and modern methodologies, and impose a moratorium on their renewals or registrations.
This news release is signed by:
Marie-Hélène Bacon, Ph.D., Researcher and coordinator of Ecohealth Research Collective on Pesticides, Policies and Alternatives (CREPPA), Université du Québec à Montréal.
Louise Vandelac, Ph.D., Full professor, Director of Ecohealth Research Collective on Pesticides, Policies and Alternatives (CREPPA), Université du Québec à Montréal.
Pascal Priori, Coordinator, Victims of Pesticides Québec, an initiative of the Quebec Association of Public Health
Mary Lou McDonald, LL.B., President, Safe Food Matters Inc.
Meg Sears, Ph.D., Chair Prevent Cancer Now; Research Associate Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
Dr. Raquel Feroe, Pesticide Free Edmonton
Jennifer Berman Diaz, Children’s Health Defense Canada, GMO Free Canada, NonGMOToronto
Dr. Jodi Koberinski, director, Earth Education League
Caroline Recollet, spokesperson, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders
Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
Dr Claire Barber MD PhD FRCPC, CAPE Alberta Member, Associate Vice Chair Planetary Health University of Calgary
Sarah Nesbitt, Founder, Patients and Families in New Brunswick with High Levels of Herbicides
Dr John O’Connor, Family Physician, Dakota Norris CAPE Manager, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Alberta.
Nina Newington, President, Save Our Old Forests Association
Rob Bright Stop Spraying and Clear Cutting Mi’kma’ki (NS)
Bob Bancroft, President, Nature Nova Scotia
Marise May, Vice President, Cha’s Organics
Mike Lancaster, Coordinator, Healthy Forest Coalition
Taylor Stanley, Impact Strategy Manager, Riverside Natural Foods
Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada
Jennifer Baichwal, Director, Mercury Films, Inc.
Thibault Rhen, Coordinator, Vigilance OGM
Maureen Hutchinson-Parker, Stop the Spray Canada
Joel Theriault, Founder, Stop the Spray Ontario
Caroline Lube-D’arcy, Stop Spraying New Brunswick
James Connor, Millions Against Monsanto Toronto
Rachel Parent, Kids Right to Know
Paule Hjertaas, Saskatchewan Network for Alternatives to Pesticides
Media contacts
Vera Ferret
Communications Manager
Quebec Association of Public Health (ASPQ)
vferret@aspq.org
450-626-8879
