Canada: Product Liability & Safety

Canada maintains a sophisticated yet largely voluntary system for regulating food-contact materials, placing primary responsibility on industry to ensure packaging safety. While Health Canada offers Letters of No Objection (LONOs) as written assurances, this regulatory framework may soon shift toward a mandatory positive list approach, fundamentally changing how food packaging materials are assessed and approved in the Canadian market.

Starting October 5, 2026, Québec will introduce a new statutory warranty of good working order for consumer goods such as appliances and electronics, with minimum warranty periods ranging from 3 to 6 years. The legislation imposes disclosure obligations on manufacturers and merchants while prohibiting any attempts to exclude or limit this warranty. Businesses operating in Québec must adapt their practices to comply with these consumer protection requirements or face potential compliance issues.

Notre bulletin du 29 avril 2025, Nouvelles normes en matière de conduite automobile : un aperçu de la gouvernance des véhicules autonomes et connectés[1], décrivait l'architecture réglementaire applicable aux véhicules autonomes et connectés (les « VAC ») au Canada, dans l'Union européenne et aux États-Unis, y compris les six niveaux d'automatisation de la Society of Automotive Engineers (la « SAE ») et le partage des compétences entre Transports Canada et les provinces.

Le régime québécois de la garantie légale de qualité impose aux vendeurs professionnels des obligations rigoureuses, notamment en raison des présomptions consacrées à l’article 1729 du Code civil du Québec (C.c.Q.).

Health Canada's Canadian Product Safety Pledge expands as Temu Canada and AliExpress join Amazon Canada and eBay Canada as signatories, committing to 14 preventative and corrective actions to strengthen product safety on their platforms. This development significantly impacts the Direct Selling Industry, particularly businesses dealing with Natural Health Products, as major online marketplaces now face stricter compliance requirements for consumer products and cosmetics sold to Canadians.

The Product Liability and Mass Torts Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP is pleased to bring you our analysis of recent Canadian product liability decisions.

On December 2, 2025, Health Canada published a Notice of Intent regarding proposed regulations for lithium-ion batteries and consumer products containing lithium-ion batteries...

Bill 10 requires merchants to provide clear cancellation options, end-of-trial notices and transparent fee disclosures for subscriptions.

Class actions continue to shape the Canadian legal landscape. As we head toward the end of 2025, we note the following developments emerging from the class actions landscape across Canada so far this year