Each and every time the natural health community has stood up against the Canadian government, natural health retailers have played a key role in helping the movements reach critical mass. Retailers interact with many members of the public who have a personal interest in protecting access to natural health products. We urgently need your support to engage your community and protect the natural health industry, including your business, in the face of Health Canada’s Self-Care Framework and Cost Recovery initiatives.
By uniting with the NHPPA and joining our Retailer Network, you’re not just safeguarding the access to natural health products that your customers value – you’re saving your business!
Your influence can help repeal restrictive legislation, halt exorbitant fees, and maintain fair product regulation. Empower yourself and your community—join NHPPA’s Retailer Network to protect the future of your business and your livelihood!
The Self-care Framework is a multi-step initiative set into motion by Health Canada in 2017 with an end goal of harmonizing our natural health product regulations with the pharmaceutical model. If achieved, this will result in the loss of countless natural health products and increase prices on products that remain.
Cost Recovery is being imposed on the natural product industry. Businesses will be charged significant annual fees to license and manufacture their products. This will result in the loss of many products and Canadian businesses who cannot afford these fees. The fees are to come into effect on December 1 2025.
Vanessa’s Law now applies to natural health products, resulting from definition changes in the annual budget bill (Bill C-47), passed on June 22 2023. Vanessa’s Law empowers Health Canada to order recalls, impose tougher penalties, and require companies to change labels or run expensive tests at their whim. It’s important to note that Vanessa’s Law was designed for pharmaceutical drugs and was never intended to apply to natural health products.
Under Vanessa’s Law, Health Canada now has the power to levy fines up to $5,000,000 per day that you are found to be in offence. Previously, the fine for noncompliance was $5000 per offence. A $5,000,000 penalty is appropriate for the pharmaceutical industry, but will only serve to destroy natural product companies and silence retaliation. As a natural health retailer, you are individually responsible for these new fines under Vanessa’s Law. There is no corporate veil to protect you, your family, or your personal assets.
Still to come in the Self-care Framework, Health Canada intends to:
Arguably, natural health retailers are the industry stakeholder group that stands to be most affected and therefore lose the most when the Self-care Framework is fully implemented. Some of the expected effects include:
If you make any health claim about a product outside of the Health-Canada approved label claims, even if you know it to be true, you and your employees could face a $5M/per day fine. With these new fines, you are personally liable, there is no corporate veil to protect you. You are also liable for the statements of any of your employees, including your sales floor staff.
With the new fees and fines being imposed on natural health product manufacturers, we can expect that many companies will go out of business, especially our beloved small and medium-sized companies, and their products will disappear along with them. As a retailer, you will be left with fewer products to stock your shelves with.
The manufacturers that stay in business will be forced to increase their product prices to recover new licensing costs, and as a retailer, you will have to do the same, meaning many of your customers will no longer be able to afford to purchase natural products and support your business.
The industry will also lose the right to rely on traditional-use evidence to license products. For example, it will no longer be acceptable to claim on a product label that “ginger is traditionally used to treat nausea”, all of this leading to more lost products and fewer options for your shelves and customers.
The Self-Care Framework will also restrict natural health products to over-the-counter uses. In other words, natural health products will not be licensed for any condition that you’d typically seek the advice of a licensed practitioner for. And remember, you can’t tell your customers about off-label uses. How can you sell a product if you can’t tell your customer what it can be used for?
Health Canada is imposing stricter regulations and new fees on natural health product (NHP) manufacturers which will increase prices and cause the loss of products because manufacturers will be unable or unwilling to afford licensing.
If NHPs are unable to rely on traditional use evidence in the licensing process, we will lose products. For example, “ginger is traditionally used to treat nausea” would no longer be an acceptable label claim under Health Canada’s Self-Care Framework.
Under Health Canada’s Self-Care Framework, label claims for NHPs are restricted to conditions for which you would not seek the advice of a health care practitioner licensed by the province. That means NHPs could no longer be licensed for many of the ailments your customers currently choose to manage naturally.
These fines can be imposed for violating the laws on NHPs (such as communicating product uses outside of the label claims). Prior to June 22, 2023, the maximum fine you faced for violating the laws on NHPs was $5,000. Now it is $5,000,000 a day. These fines apply to all directors and employees within NHP businesses, whereas they used to only apply to corporations. How could any of us withstand $5,000,000 per day fines?
If you or your staff make any health claim about a product outside of the Health-Canada-approved label claims, even if you know it to be true, you and your employees could face a $5,000,000 per day fine. It’s very difficult to sell a product if you can’t tell the customer all the potential uses and benefits. How will this affect your sales?
We invite you to use your voice and influence to champion NHPPA’s goals and empower your community to get involved in this important movement.
We have created a number of materials for you to share with your community that will spread awareness and provide your customers with easy ways to take action. There are a few downloadable documents available below, and when you fill out this form we will send you a comprehensive Retailer Action Kit with exclusive materials including pre-written email newsletters for your community, social media content to educate and inspire action, along with print and digital assets to display in your store-front
Thank you for taking action.
By joining our retailer network, you will make a significant impact at this critical time.
