February 18, 2010

Canada's Competition Bureau has published Enforcement Guidelines relating to "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" Claims.

These new guidelines describe the Bureau's approach in assessing
"Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims for non-food products under the false or misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Textile Labelling Act. 

The new guidelines introduce a distinction between "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims. "Product of Canada" claims will be subject to a higher threshold of Canadian content (98%), while "Made in Canada" claims will remain subject to a 51% threshold of Canadian content but should be accompanied by a qualifying statement indicating that the product contains imported content.  In both cases, the last substantial transformation of the product must have occurred in Canada.

In preparing these guidelines, the Bureau took into account comments which were received during the public consultation period that was held from July–October 2009.  The new guidelines will take effect on July 1, 2010, and they will replace the previous Guide to "Made in Canada" Claims.  During the interim period, the Bureau's approach to enforcement will be based on the previous guide.