Canada’s Continuous Oversight Policy: What Pesticide Companies Need to Know

December 26, 2025 Canada

26 December 2025, Canada: October 14, 2025, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) officially released the consultation summary for the Proposed Policy on Continuous Oversight of Pesticides (PRO2024-01). With the majority of stakeholders expressing support, this signals that the new Continuous Oversight policy is moving from blueprint to reality.

What is Continuous Oversight?

The Continuous Oversight policy effectively places a “real-time health monitoring bracelet” on every pesticide product registered in Canada, implementing 24/7 monitoring. Continuous Oversight does not replace the existing re-evaluation system; rather, it serves as a normalized, high-frequency “risk searchlight” suspended over all products.

Core Aspects of Continuous Oversight

Full-time Monitoring: From the moment a product is approved for market launch until the end of its lifecycle, supervision will be uninterrupted.
Global Information Sourcing: Sources include the latest academic journal papers, assessment reports from other regulatory agencies (such as those in Europe and the US), and government environmental and health monitoring data, known as “grey literature.”
Timeliness of Action: The PMRA has set a performance target of 180 days. This means that within six months of identifying new information, a preliminary assessment must be completed to decide whether action is required, such as issuing data call-ins to companies or initiating a Special Review.
Intelligent Regulation: The PMRA will invest heavily in automated information screening and artificial intelligence tools to ensure the feasibility of this ambitious plan.

Corporate Challenges Under Continuous Oversight

Challenge 1: The End of the “Set It and Forget It” Era

Under the old model, companies typically enjoyed a relatively stable “quiet period” between re-evaluation cycles. However, under the new policy, an academic paper published in Europe or a preliminary assessment report from the US EPA could trigger Canadian regulatory action at any time—a “butterfly effect” creating significant uncertainty for corporate market strategy and product line planning.

Challenge 2: Production Consistency is Critical

Corporate compliance responsibility has expanded from “managing oneself” to “global insight.” You are not only responsible for the safety of your own products but must also constantly monitor all scientific developments globally related to your active ingredients and even chemically similar substances. Furthermore, the “periodic chemical verification” under the new policy places strict requirements on the stability of manufacturing processes and production consistency.

REACH24H Strategies for Navigating Continuous Oversight

The era of Continuous Oversight in Canadian pesticide regulation has arrived. This presents both a stern challenge and an industry reshuffle. It will eliminate products that lack maintenance and innovation, while for companies with strong technology and standardized management, it offers an excellent opportunity to outpace competitors by using technology and management to build a new “moat.”

From “Passive” to “Proactive”: Establish internal teams or entrust professional third parties to conduct normalized scientific intelligence monitoring. You need to understand potential risks related to your products earlier than the regulators to gain valuable time for response.
Leave Professional Matters to Professionals: Conduct a deep, honest assessment of potential weaknesses and data gaps in your product dossiers. When challenges arise, you need to be able to provide scientific explanations and supplementary evidence quickly and professionally to mount an effective defense.

REACH24H has been rooted in global pesticide registration for decades, possessing extensive experience in handling reviews in the EU, US, Canada, and Australia. Leveraging our global expert network and over ten years of deep professional accumulation in agrochemical regulations, REACH24H will stand with you to jointly meet this new era full of challenges and opportunities.

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