PM2.5 2030 Standards and Chemical Permit

Summary#

This notice contains two Environment Department items. First, Ministerial Condition No. 22175 under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 allows one identified notifier to manufacture or import the chemical 1,3-propanediamine, N-[3-(C11-14-isoalkyloxy)propyl] derivs., C13-rich, acetates (CAS RN 151789-08-1) but only under strict conditions. Second, the government updates the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to stricter targets for 2030, including a new 24‑hour standard of 23 µg/m3 and an annual standard of 8.0 µg/m3, taking effect January 1, 2030.

What it does#

• Chemical permissions and rules:
  • Allows the notifier (the person who submitted required information on April 4, 2025) to manufacture or import the named substance — but only under many specific conditions.
  • Bars importing or using the substance in uncured form in consumer products or cosmetics, unless it is chemically reacted into a stable matrix and cured during manufacture.
  • Requires the notifier to notify the government at least 120 days before starting manufacture in Canada with details such as anticipated annual quantity, facility address, transportation and storage plans, likely releases, disposal methods, and manufacturing process details.
  • Limits transfers: the substance can only be passed to people who agree not to use it in consumer products or cosmetics except as described above.
  • Requires rinsing of containers and either recycling the rinsate into mining flotation reagent processing aids or disposal in an engineered hazardous waste landfill facility (following local law).
  • Sets strict rules for response to accidental releases and for keeping records (retained for at least five years) about quantities, transfers, and disposal.
  • These ministerial conditions came into force on July 28, 2025.
• Air quality standards:
  • Replaces the existing 2020 CAAQS for PM2.5 with more stringent values to apply in 2030:
    • 24‑hour CAAQS: 23 µg/m3 (measured as the 3‑year average of the annual 98th percentile of daily values).
    • Annual CAAQS: 8.0 µg/m3 (measured as the 3‑year average of annual average concentrations).
  • The updated CAAQS and related air quality management levels are intended to guide provincial, territorial, and local actions under the Air Quality Management System.
  • The 2030 CAAQS take effect at 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2030.

Who's affected#

• For the chemical rules:
  • The named notifier (the person who filed the information) is the primary party allowed to make or import the substance, and anyone they transfer it to must follow the conditions. The Gazette text does not name the notifier publicly, so it is unclear which company or person that is.
  • Manufacturers, transporters, waste handlers, and landfill operators involved with this substance could be affected by the disposal, transfer, and record-keeping requirements.
  • Consumers could be indirectly affected if the rules limit the substance’s appearance in consumer products or cosmetics.
• For the PM2.5 standards:
  • Provincial and territorial governments and the local bodies that manage air zones will use these targets when planning and reporting on air quality.
  • Industries and activities that emit fine particles (for example, transportation, industry, energy production, and some types of construction and agricultural burning) will be the main focus of actions to meet the standards.
  • The general public, especially people with heart or lung conditions, children, and communities near pollution sources, are affected by the air-quality targets and any resulting local actions.

Why it matters#

• The chemical conditions restrict how a potentially hazardous substance can be made, moved, used, stored and disposed of. That reduces the chance it ends up in consumer products in an uncured form, and aims to limit releases to the environment and wastewater.
• Updating the CAAQS for PM2.5 to stricter 2030 targets reflects scientific evidence that smaller amounts of fine particles still harm health. Health Canada’s note in the notice estimates about 12,500 premature deaths in Canada each year are linked to long‑term exposure to ambient PM2.5. Tighter standards are intended to drive actions that improve air quality and public health over time.
• The PM2.5 standards are national objectives that guide provincial and local action; they do not by themselves ban specific activities, but they shape monitoring, planning and regulatory steps across jurisdictions.