NPRI Reporting Requirements 2025–2027

Summary#

This is a notice under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 that tells certain facilities they must report pollutant information to the National Pollutant Release Inventory for the calendar years 2025, 2026 and 2027. Reports for each year must be submitted by June 1, 2026, June 1, 2027, and June 1, 2028 respectively.

What it does#

• Requires owners/operators of facilities that meet the criteria in Schedule 3 to send data (as listed in Schedule 4) to the National Pollutant Release Inventory for each of the years 2025–2027. Reporting is done through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Single Window system.
• Sets who must report by defining facility thresholds and activities. Examples include facilities where employees work 20 000 hours or more, or where specific activities occur such as:
  • incineration of 26 tonnes or more of waste,
  • wastewater discharge averaging 10 000 m3 or more per day, or
  • pit or quarry production of 500 000 tonnes or more.
• Updates and expands the list of chemicals that must be reported. Key additions and changes:
  • A new group of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Part 1, Group C — 163 listed PFAS. Each listed PFAS must be reported if 1 kg or more is manufactured, processed or otherwise used at ≥ 0.1% concentration.
  • Triarylmethane dyes added (examples: Basic Violet 3, Basic Violet 4, Basic Blue 7, MAPBAP Acetate) with a threshold of 100 kg and 1% concentration.
  • Malachite Green moved from Group A to Group B with a 100 kg / 1% threshold.
  • A group of benzothiazoles (including 2‑mercaptobenzothiazole) added with a combined threshold of 100 kg and 0.1%.
  • Ninety‑two long‑chain aliphatic amines added with a combined threshold of 5 000 kg and 0.1%.
  • Free cyanide, cyanide salts and complexes, and hydrogen cyanide placed in Group B with a 1 000 kg / 0.1% threshold.
  • Ethylene oxide moved into Group B with a low threshold of 1 kg / 0.1% and reporting now explicitly includes uses for education and training of students.
• Keeps and clarifies reporting rules for air pollutants and volatile organics, including specific mass thresholds for criteria pollutants (examples):
  • PM2.5: 0.3 t
  • PM10: 0.5 t
  • Volatile organic compounds (total): 10 t
  • Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, total particulate matter: 20 t each
• Explains that submitted information may be published but allows confidentiality requests under the Act; it also notes record‑keeping obligations at the facility for three years.

Who's affected#

• Owners and operators of industrial, commercial or other facilities that meet the reporting criteria in Schedule 3. That includes, for example:
  • chemical manufacturers and processors,
  • facilities that use or make PFAS, dyes, cyanides, long‑chain amines, or ethylene oxide,
  • mining and quarrying operations,
  • wastewater treatment plants and facilities with large discharges,
  • pulp and paper, smelting, cement and major combustion units, and
  • oil and gas installations and terminals.
• Small sites that do not meet the stated thresholds are not required to report. If it’s unclear whether a facility meets the criteria, the operator must check the schedules or contact Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Why it matters#

• Public access and local knowledge: data reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory are published and used to show where pollutants come from. That helps communities, researchers and governments see local sources of chemical releases.
• New chemicals on the list, especially the large set of PFAS, mean more facilities will have to track and disclose small quantities of substances that are persistent or of growing concern.
• The changes lower reporting thresholds for some harmful substances (for example, ethylene oxide at 1 kg), so activities that were previously under the radar may now generate public data.
• Compliance is mandatory and there are penalties for failing to report or for providing false information (examples of first‑offence maximum fines in the Act include $1,000,000 for an individual and $6,000,000 for a corporation; other offences carry fines up to $100,000 and $500,000).
• For operators: this is a practical prompt to review material inventories, monitoring practices and pollution‑prevention measures ahead of the reporting deadlines.