Genetically Modified Fruit Fly Added to List

Summary#

This Order, Order 2025-112-04-01 Amending the Domestic Substances List, adds one genetically modified living organism to the federal inventory known as the Domestic Substances List. The change took effect on the day the Order was registered (August 29, 2025) and means that organism is no longer treated as a "new" substance under the New Substances notification rules.

What it does#

• Adds the following living organism to Part 7 of the Domestic Substances List:
  • 19771-9 — a genetically modified fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) with a single insert carrying a gene that expresses human prolactin and a marker gene.
• As a result, that organism is no longer subject to the New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms) for new-substance assessment and notification.
• Confirms the Order is made under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and came into force on registration (August 29, 2025).
• The Order is administrative: it does not create new requirements for businesses and does not amount to a safety endorsement or exempt the organism from any other laws.

Who's affected#

• The company or person who manufactured or imported this genetically modified organism into Canada (they provided the original regulatory information).
• Researchers, laboratories, and biotechnology businesses that work with or trade this particular Drosophila melanogaster strain.
• Federal regulators and anyone tracking what living organisms are present in the Canadian marketplace.
• Broader public impact is not clear from the Order; it mainly changes the regulatory status of this specific organism.

Why it matters#

• Being on the Domestic Substances List means the organism is officially recorded as already present in Canada. That removes the extra pre-market notification and assessment steps that apply to "new" organisms.
• For researchers and companies, this can simplify continuing imports, manufacture, or use of that strain because one set of notification rules no longer applies.
• It does not mean the government approves or guarantees safety; other rules and oversight (for example, lab biosafety or other federal/provincial laws) may still apply.