Speaking on the hill, CPHA leadership warns against rolling back natural health product safeguards

Earlier in October, Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) executives urged MPs to reject a bill they say would weaken Health Canada’s ability to respond to safety risks involving natural health products.Bill C-224, first introduced by Conservative MP Blaine Calkins in September 2025, would remove most natural health products from the definition of “therapeutic product” under the Food and Drugs Act.The change would strip Health Canada of certain powers extended to natural health products in 2023 under Vanessa’s Law, which Parliament passed in 2014. Those powers allow the department to demand safety information from manufacturers, order changes to product labels and recall products that pose serious health risks.Appearing before the House of Commons health committee, CPhA chief pharmacy officer Sadaf Faisal warned that the proposed changes could leave consumers with fewer protections.“Natural does not always mean harmless,” Faisal told MPs. “Even a relatively low-frequency risk can have significant consequences when products are used by millions of Canadians.”CPhA vice-president of public affairs Ashley McVey clarified, however, that the association is not calling for natural health products to face the same regulations as prescription drugs. Natural health products already have a separate regulatory framework, she said, and the association wants to keep it that way.But McVey said Health Canada must retain its authority when a manufacturer fails to address a serious safety concern.“Most manufacturers act responsibly when safety concerns present themselves, but a regulator must also have the authority to act when voluntary measures are insufficient,” she told the committee.The proposed legislation has drawn support from some in the natural health product industry, who say federal regulations have made it more costly and time-consuming to bring products to market.Andrea Donsky, co-founder of Canadian supplement company Morphus, told MPs her company chose to launch its products in the United States before Canada because the American process was faster and easier.She said regulatory delays have made it harder to bring those products to Canadian customers.CPhA acknowledged concerns about costs and access but said Ottawa should address those problems without giving up its existing safety powers.“Those concerns should be addressed through targeted, proportionate changes that preserve patient safety rather than by removing safety authorities that allow the regulator to respond to serious safety risks,” McVey said.

Speaking on the hill, CPHA leadership warns against rolling back natural health product safeguards

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