Canada implements GHS
On 11 February 2015, the Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) was published in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Government of Canada. Together with the amended Hazardous Products Act (HPA), the HPR constitutes the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS 2015) that sets the requirements for hazard classification and communication at the workplace based on GHS. Highlights are listed below. The following building blocks are not implemented:
q Chemically unstable gases, all categories;
q Aerosol, category 3 (non-flammable aerosols);
q Acute toxicity, category 5;
q Skin corrosion/irritation, category 3;
q Aspiration hazard, category 2;
q Aquatic acute, all categories;
q Aquatic chronic, all categories;
q Ozone, category 1.
q Six new hazard categories (out of the scope of GHS) have been implemented:
q Combustible dusts;
q Simple asphyxiants;
q Pyrophoric gases;
q Physical hazards not otherwise classified;
q Biohazardous Infectious Materials;
q Health hazards not otherwise classified.
The provisions of the HPR will be obligatory for manufacturers and importers as from 1 June 2017, and by 1 December 2018 for all suppliers and employers. A transition period, divided in three phases, has been granted. During the transition period it is possible to comply either with the old system (CPR) or the new one. It is not allowed to use a combination of both systems. The three phases are summarised in the table below:
| Phase | Time period | Suppliers | Employers | |
| Manufacturers and Importers | Distributors | |||
| 1 | Entry into force: 31 May 2017 | CPR or HPR | CPR or HPR | Regional level |
| 2 | 1 June 2017 – 31 May 2018 | HPR | CPR or HPR | CPR or HPR |
| 3 | 1 June 2018 – 30 November 2018 | HPR | HPR | CPR or HPR |
DHI Newsletter, 25 February 2015 ;http://ghs.dhigroup.com/ ;