Review Safety Code 6 and Labels
Petitioners ask review of Safety Code 6, including non‑thermal effects, mandated SAR labels and a physical wireless‑off switch, and telcos to offer hardwired routers with battery backup. The government responds Safety Code 6 protects Canadians.
Why we would sign this petition
- A parliamentary review could identify gaps in Safety Code 6 and update protections for people concerned about non‑thermal RF‑EMR effects.
- Mandatory SAR labels and a physical wireless‑off switch would give consumers clearer information and direct control to reduce involuntary exposure.
- Requiring carriers to offer hardwired modems/routers with battery backup would let vulnerable users avoid RF emissions and maintain service during outages.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Health Canada and ISED state Safety Code 6 already protects all age groups, so another review may be redundant.
- Mandating labels, physical switches and wired equipment could raise costs for manufacturers and carriers, potentially increasing prices or limiting product choice.
- Evidence of harm below Safety Code 6 limits is contested; reallocating resources to clearer public‑health priorities might be more effective.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS Whereas: Telecommunications technology plays a vital role in the daily lives of Canadians and the national economy, with wireless services commonly used for personal and small business communications; Vulnerable Canadians suffer adverse health effects when exposed to radiofrequency microwave electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) at levels below Health Canada's Safety Code 6, and many individuals wish to minimize their RF-EMR exposure from wireless devices and equipment; Fibre optic cables to the premises do not emit RF-EMR. Within the premises, optical signals can be converted to electrical signals, then transmitted through CAT 5 and coaxial cables for phone, internet, and television services. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to: 1. Request a fulsome study by the Standing Committee on Health regarding Health Canada's Safety Code 6 with substantive consideration of non-thermal biological effects, including hearings with expert witnesses and comprehensive public engagement. 2. Request a hearing by the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology regarding the feasibility of mandating clear and accessible labelling for all wireless-capable devices, including the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), a clearly identified physical on/off-switch that disables all wireless functionality, and instructions on how devices can function via hardwired connections when wireless features are turned off. 3. Request the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to require telecommunication companies to provide hardwired, non-RF-EMR emitting router and modem options for phone, internet and television, with battery backup to maintain service during power outages.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Health Signed by Maggie Chi Canada’s standards for cellphone and antenna safety are some of the toughest in the world. These rules use limits on human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) for various devices, which are far below the threshold for potential health effects. Based on the available scientific evidence, there are no health risks, including to children, from exposures to the low levels of radiofrequency EMF emitted by cell phones and antenna installations. Health Canada continually monitors the situation and will not hesitate to take action to protect Canadians. The latest scientific evidence shows that our existing measures on RF EMF protect our most vulnerable. Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 human exposure limits are designed to provide protection for all age groups, including infants and children, on a continuous basis (24 hours a day/seven days a week). This means that if a person, including a small child, were to be exposed to RF EMF from multiple sources for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, within the Safety Code 6 limits, there would be no adverse health effects. Health Canada’s mandate regarding human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) from wireless devices includes carrying out research into possible health effects, monitoring the scientific literature related to such effects on an ongoing basis, and developing RF EMF exposure guidelines. These guidelines, known as Safety Code 6, recommend limits for safe human exposure to RF EMF in the frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz. The limits established in Safety Code 6 incorporate large safety margins to provide a significant level of protection for all Canadians, including those working near RF sources. Regulation of wireless communication equipment, including the location of cellular towers, is the responsibility of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) under the Radiocommunication Act. To ensure that public exposures fall within acceptable guidelines, ISED has developed regulatory standards that require compliance with the human exposure limits outlined in Safety Code 6. It is incorrect to say that Canada’s guidelines have not been updated. Safety Code 6 limits are among the most stringent science-based limits in the world, and are based on the most recent scientific data from studies carried out worldwide. When developing the exposure limits in Safety Code 6, our top scientists considered all peer-reviewed scientific studies and employed a weight-of-evidence approach to evaluate possible health risks from exposure to RF EMF. The exposure limits and the conclusions of Health Canada are in line with international comparators. Canada continues to participate in the International EMF Project, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has a goal of assessing scientific evidence of health effects from exposure to EMF and characterizing any associated health risks to humans. The WHO recently sponsored a series of systematic reviews and is coordinating an updated monograph on the potential health effects from RF EMF exposure. Health Canada’s participation in these activities allows the Department to leverage these large-scale and highly resourced international efforts. The WHO’s systematic review protocols and papers are available online: Environment International | WHO assessment of health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: systematic reviews. Updates on the development of the WHO monograph will be made available on the WHO EMF Project website: The International EMF Project. The WHO’s systematic review project involved four years of meticulous, collaborative work by more than 80 scientific experts from around the world. The project is one of the most comprehensive evaluations of environmental health evidence to date and provides a robust model for global health risk assessments, contributing to the development of evidence-based norms, standards, and research priorities. The systematic reviews assess the certainty of evidence for hazards related to RF EMF (i.e., potential to cause harm at any intensity level). They do not assess the level of risk, which is the chance that the hazard will actually cause harm in a given situation (e.g., representative of human exposures). The available data from these reviews support the safety of current RF-EMF guidelines. While some evidence of a hazard was identified for RF EMF exposure in relation to cancer induction and adverse fertility outcomes in animal studies, these effects occurred with high intensity, whole body exposures which are not encountered by humans and are far above international and Safety Code 6 exposure limits. Therefore, collectively, these large reviews provide no convincing evidence of harm from RF EMF at levels below Safety Code 6 limits. It remains Health Canada’s position that the recommended limits set out in Safety Code 6 remain protective of human health based on the totality of evidence available on this issue. The Government of Canada continues to monitor the best available evidence. If new scientific evidence were to demonstrate that exposure below recommended levels in Safety Code 6 was of concern to public health, Health Canada would take appropriate action to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Response by the Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions Signed by The Honourable Mélanie Joly In relation to item 2, in Canada, the recommended limits associated with the exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields falls under the mandate of the Minister of Health. Health Canada’s recommended Safety Code 6 limits for human exposure to RF fields are set well below the levels of all known potential adverse health effects and provide protection for all age groups, including children. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s (ISED) focus is on ensuring that wireless devices and antenna installations comply with these limits through the establishment of technical standards and conditions of licence. Under ISED’s Radio Standards Specification (RSS)-102, manufacturers are required to provide information on the proper usage of wireless devices in their user manuals, including the minimum separation distance at which a product shall be kept from the body to be in compliance with RF exposure limits. Under Clause 25(4) of the Radiocommunication Regulations, “no person shall mark, label or otherwise indicate that [wireless] equipment complies with applicable standards, unless that equipment complies with those standards.” This label includes the certification number or a statement that the device complies with applicable technical standards. In order to provide useful information to Canadians, in 2019, ISED published a communication package regarding RF energy and safety by introducing a new webpage: Radiofrequency Energy and Safety. The content found on this web page, which is updated as needed, was developed to help inform the general public by providing them with reliable and accurate information to pertinent questions Canadians have on RF energy and safety. In relation to item 3, the Canadian technical standards published by ISED currently in place do not prevent equipment manufacturers from introducing different types of products on the Canadian market to serve the same service needs (in this case, wired or wireless products to offer reliable network connectivity), as long as all applicable regulatory requirements are met, including those which have been introduced to ensure the health and safety of all users. Likewise, the telecommunications industry itself is free to choose to acquire and implement any technologies they deem appropriate for the offer and provision of their individual services to end users. In this regard, the choice on which technologies and services to utilize ultimately rests with the end users of the services, who are also free to select the technologies and services that best meet their needs.