Free Cyanide Added to Schedule 1

Summary#

A proposed order published in the Canada Gazette on March 18, 2023 would add free cyanide, cyanide salts and cyanide complexes to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. That listing would give Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada the authority to develop future rules or controls to manage environmental risks from these cyanides.

What it does#

• Adds free cyanide, cyanide salts and cyanide complexes to Schedule 1 (the List of Toxic Substances) under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
• The addition itself does not create new rules or immediate costs. It simply enables the government to propose specific risk-management tools later (regulations, codes, monitoring, etc.).
• The government’s scientific review (screening assessment) found these cyanides meet the ecological test for harm to the environment (a risk to aquatic life) but concluded the risk to human health is low for the substances assessed.
• The assessment focused on releases from the metal mining sector, iron and steel manufacturing, and the use of road salts as main sources of environmental cyanide exposure.
• This is a consultation-stage notice: the public comment period was 60 days after publication on March 18, 2023. The order would come into force on the day it is registered.

Who's affected#

• Companies in the metal mining sector (including gold extraction), where cyanide is widely used or released.
• Iron and steel manufacturers and other industrial facilities that can incidentally generate cyanides.
• Producers and users of road salt that contains ferrocyanide anticaking agents.
• Firms that import or use sodium cyanide (large import volumes were reported in prior surveys).
• Communities and ecosystems downstream or downwind of facilities that discharge effluent or runoff — especially freshwater organisms.
• Ordinary consumers are unlikely to see immediate effects; the assessment found low human-health risk for the substances reviewed. Exact future regulatory targets and who would be directly regulated are not yet decided.

Why it matters#

• Putting these cyanides on Schedule 1 is the legal step that lets the government create concrete protections (limits, monitoring requirements, codes of practice) aimed at preventing harm to fish and other freshwater life.
• If the government does follow with rules, businesses in mining, steel, and road-salt supply could face new operating or reporting requirements down the line. The listing itself does not yet impose those requirements.
• For people living near mines, steel mills, or places where road salt runs off into water, this is a move toward stronger government action to reduce cyanide-related damage to local waterways and wildlife.