During the spring 2026 parliamentary session, the Canadian Government adopted sweeping changes to how Canada manages exposure to chemicals in our foods, ecosystems, and bodies under Bill C-30, An Act to implement certain provisions of the spring economic update, an omnibus budget bill tabled in Parliament on April 28, 2026. Bill C-30 seeks to address economic uncertainty and food security by making the most substantive changes to pesticide regulation in a generation, yet this Bill was not studied by Parliament’s agriculture, health, or environment committees.
Bill C-30 signals an abandonment of the whole-of-government coordinated approach to food systems, ignoring health and environment policy roles in strengthening food security and farm viability. COG acknowledges solutions are needed for food security and that farmers need support with increasing production challenges. Bill C-30 moves away from evidence-based policymaking, failing to address the root causes of both food insecurity and increasing costs of production.
Despite the significance of the changes in Bill C-30 for Canadian agriculture, public health, and environmental protection, Bill C-30 received limited standalone parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation because they were embedded within broader budget legislation. Bill C-30 was adopted without effective consultation and pushed through during the height of farming season.
In particular, Bill C-30 issues new powers to Cabinet to permit pesticides in food production that the Minister of Health has determined pose unacceptable environmental risks. Rather than strengthening Canada’s evidence-based approach to protecting human health and the environment, Bill C-30 allows for certain science-based pesticide regulatory decisions to be overridden based on broad policy objectives that are not clearly defined in the legislation.
For more than 50 years, COG has worked to advance organic and regenerative agricultural systems that protect soil, biodiversity, water quality, and human health while supporting productive and economically resilient farms. Organic agriculture demonstrates that Canadian farmers can successfully produce food without relying on the use of synthetic agricultural inputs. Strengthening these systems is key for achieving food security and economic security over generations. Measures intended to strengthen food security must also strengthen human health and environmental resilience over the long term.
COG shares concerns raised by many organizations across Canada’s agricultural and food sectors regarding two key issues with Bill C-30:
1. Key terms are not defined.
While Bill C-30 adds “national economic security”, “food security”, and “regional economic security” as considerations that Cabinet can impose upon pesticide regulation decisions, definitions for these key terms are missing from the legislation. COG is concerned that by leaving these key terms undefined, political determinations of what is in the “national economic security” interest will override science-based restrictions on industry’s use of chemicals that may harm human health. Clear definitions are essential to ensuring that decisions are consistent, accountable, and science-based.
2. C-30 grants extraordinary powers for cabinet, undermining regulatory processes.
Through Bill C-30, Cabinet Ministers now have the discretion to override science-based regulation, reducing transparency and independence in the pesticide approval and regulatory system. These changes undermine Canada’s reputation as a food-safe jurisdiction that prioritizes science-based regulation, and leaves businesses at risk from field to table. Maintaining public trust requires that regulatory decisions are guided by the best available scientific evidence and appropriate public accountability.
Canada’s pesticide regulatory system has evolved as scientific evidence has improved and our understanding of risks has grown. Products initially considered safe have later been restricted or removed as new evidence revealed unacceptable risks to human health or the environment. For this reason, COG believes regulatory decisions should continue to be independent and grounded in the best available science. Instead of strengthening these principles, Bill C-30 weakens them.
We do not view food security, economic resilience, environmental stewardship, and human health as competing priorities. They are fundamentally interconnected. Long-term food security depends on healthy soils, functioning ecosystems, and resilient farms.
Reliance on chemical-intensive production systems can appear economically efficient when many of their longer-term environmental and health costs are externalized. Strengthening farming systems that reduce these external costs is an investment in long-term resilience and food security.
Take Action and Learn More
COG supports amendments to Bill C-30 that would: clearly define the terms “national security”, “food security”, and “regional economic security”; and remove Cabinet powers that allow political considerations to override science-based pesticide regulatory decisions. We encourage our members and supporters to contact their MP and share these concerns and request Bill C-30 be revisited, with full hearings and reviews across Agriculture, Environment, and Health Parliamentary Committees. For analysis on impacts of Bill C-30 on health and environment we encourage people to review analyses from Canadian Physicians for the Environment and EcoJustice.
Please see the following statements on Bill C-30 from our colleagues across the agriculture and food sectors including recommendations for alternate strategies: