Food and Drugs Act: Marketing Authorizations Repealed

Summary#

This order sets the day when parts of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 that change the Food and Drugs Act take effect. The Order was published on March 26, 2025, so the listed provisions come into force the next day, March 27, 2025.

What it does#

• Brings into force subsection 325(2) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, which repeals paragraph 30(1)(r) of the Food and Drugs Act (removing the Governor in Council’s regulation-making authority about marketing authorizations).
• Brings into force section 330, which repeals the heading before section 30.2 and sections 30.2 to 30.4 of the Food and Drugs Act (removing the Minister of Health’s authority to issue conditional marketing authorizations).
• Brings into force subsection 331(2), which amends subsection 30.5(1) of the Food and Drugs Act to remove references to marketing authorizations.
• Moves existing marketing authorizations to the newer class-exemption authority under subsection 30.05(1) of the Food and Drugs Act. The marketing authorizations that are deemed now to be made under subsection 30.05(1) include:
  • Marketing Authorization for Gluten-free Oats and Foods Containing Gluten-free Oats
  • Marketing Authorization for Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs in Foods
  • Marketing Authorization to Permit a Lower Calcium Threshold for Exemptions from the Requirement for Prepackaged Products to Carry a Nutrition Symbol in the Case of Cheese, Yogurt, Kefir and Buttermilk
  • Marketing Authorization for Vitamin D in Yogurt and Kefir

Who's affected#

• Health Canada and the Minister of Health — the department and minister use the changed legal authorities to issue or manage exemptions and orders.
• Food and therapeutic-product companies tied to the specific authorizations listed above (for example, producers of gluten-free oats, certain dairy products, or foods affected by veterinary drug residue limits).
• Consumers are unlikely to see immediate changes because the content and requirements of the listed marketing authorizations are not being altered. If it is unclear who else might be affected, the source says so plainly.

Why it matters#

• This is mainly an administrative legal change. It replaces one legal tool (marketing authorizations) with another (class exemption orders) for handling targeted exemptions in food and therapeutic-product rules.
• The government says the change is meant to make regulatory authority more consistent and to support flexible responses to supply or safety issues.
• Health Canada says the existing authorizations will keep their substance unchanged, so no direct financial, social, or environmental impacts are expected.