Pesticide storage, disposal, drift and complaints in Canada
What Health Canada, Ontario and British Columbia say about drift, storage, disposal, spills and where a pesticide complaint goes.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Canada splits the work. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency, called PMRA below, registers products and sets label wording. Each province regulates sale, storage, transport, use and disposal. Two provinces are covered here, Ontario and British Columbia. Licensing is on the guide pesticide licences by country.
Drift: the federal view
The Health Canada page on drift mitigation describes two kinds. Vapour drift is pesticide that evaporates during or after application and is carried by wind. Spray drift is droplets blown off target during application. The page says PMRA manages both by requiring mitigation statements on labels and by promoting application and land management practices that reduce off-site exposure. It says better practices can reduce the need for large spray buffer zones, and it links to a buffer zone calculator, to guidance on spray drift practices and to a document on managing pesticide spray drift. The page carries the date May 11, 2020.
Reporting an incident to Health Canada
Health Canada's pesticide incident reporting page describes an incident as a negative effect on people, pets, livestock, plants or wildlife. It says the reporter does not need to be certain a pesticide caused the effect. Reports go through the company named on the product label, which is required by law to report to Health Canada, or through the department's voluntary incident report form on its public engagement portal. A packaging incident form is requested from the Pesticides Information Service. The page says reports are posted in a public registry with personal details removed, and Health Canada then assesses whether the pesticide caused the effect. Possible outcomes it lists include safety tips, better label instructions and added label safety measures. Page details show June 25, 2026. For environmental emergencies the page points to the emergency contacts of the province or territory.
Ontario
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks guide to pesticide licensing sets out these points, in the guide's own terms.
| Topic | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| Storage | Not where pesticides are likely to touch food or drink for people or animals. Vendor storage areas are kept clean and in good repair, with a Chemical or Pesticide Storage warning sign at every entrance and emergency numbers posted. Manufacturers, operators and vendors give the local fire department written notice each year. Unattended vehicles carrying pesticides are in a non-public area or have the product locked in a compartment, with a sign. |
| Disposal | Return to the manufacturer or transfer to another licensed exterminator first. Otherwise Ontario Regulation 63/09 and Regulation 347 apply, and pesticide wastes go to a ministry-approved waste facility, moved by a waste management company with the right approvals. |
| Spills | A discharge that causes or is likely to cause adverse effects is reported to the Spills Action Centre, 1-800-268-6060, immediately after a fire, accident, spill or theft that may release pesticide. |
| Drift | No guidance on practice; insurance for airborne work must cover liability for off-target pesticide disposition. |
| Complaints | A local ministry district office during business hours; the Pollution Hotline, 1-866-MOE-TIPS (663-8477), after hours. Enforcement tools listed are inspections, orders, tickets and prosecutions. |
The ministry's page on pesticide licences and permits repeats the spill centre number and lists the Pesticides Act and the regulation as the framework. The page on using pesticides in Ontario says the province regulates the sale, use, transportation, storage and disposal of pesticides.
British Columbia
The BC legislation page names the Integrated Pest Management Act and its Regulation as the primary tools governing the storage, sale, transportation and use of pesticides in the province, and links to the statute, the regulation and a summary. The BC compliance and enforcement page says provincial inspectors check compliance on site or from data, and the Conservation Officer Service can also inspect. For a misuse concern it points to the Report All Poachers and Polluters page and asks for as much detail as possible, contact details and any photos or videos. It lists the BC Environmental Emergency Program at 1-800-663-3456 for spills. The page does not describe storage, disposal or drift rules, and the BC pages read give no phone number for misuse complaints. They were last updated May 14, 2024 and July 21, 2021.
Sources
- Health Canada, Drift Mitigation, page dated May 11, 2020, read October 8, 2026
- Health Canada, Pesticide Incident Reporting, read October 8, 2026
- Government of Ontario, Guide to pesticide licensing, updated February 1, 2024, read October 8, 2026
- Government of Ontario, Pesticide licences and permits, read October 8, 2026
- Government of Ontario, Using pesticides in Ontario, updated May 5, 2026, read October 8, 2026
- Government of British Columbia, Compliance and enforcement for pesticides, updated May 14, 2024, read October 8, 2026
- Government of British Columbia, Pesticide legislation, updated July 21, 2021, read October 8, 2026