Blog by: John Jackson, Citizens’ Network on Waste Management and Fe de Leon, Canadian Environmental Law Association
John and Fe were members of the NPRI PFAS sub-group, which was created under the NPRI Work Group to provide advice to NPRI office of Environment and Climate Change Canada on a plan to report PFAS in NPRI.
Canada has made an important decision towards improving community right-to-know of chemicals in the environment by adding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), Canada’s main pollution registry.
The NPRI was established under section 46 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) as an information-gathering measure for those pollutants annually designated by notice from the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change as requiring reporting by facilities (such as government agencies, industry, municipalities).
Through a Canada Gazette Notice released in March 2025, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) added 163 PFAS substances to the NPRI substance list. Each PFAS is required to be reported annually by any facility that manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses one kilogram or more of that substance at a concentration of 0.1% by weight or more. Each facility is required to report to the NPRI on their annual on-site releases of PFAS to air, surface waters, land, and disposal. They also are required to report transfers off-site for recycling, energy recovery, and treatment and disposal.
The first year for which facilities are required to report on PFAS substances is for the amount released and transferred during the whole of 2025. As is the normal procedure, the 2025 data will be reported to NPRI in June of the following year, in this case, June 2026. That data usually becomes available to the public through the NPRI in early fall [i.e., fall 2026].
The Importance of Community Right-to-Know and PFAS
People across the country have been calling for stronger action on PFAS. In some communities (e.g., Hamilton and North Bay in Ontario), PFAS have been discovered in the community’s environment as a result of fire control chemicals used at airports and military bases, which have been documented all across Canada.
But it is clear that PFAS are being released to the environment not just because of use in fire control. Many Canadians do not know what PFAS substances are being released or their sources.
As a result, activists have been working to increase community right-to-know by requiring data on PFAS releases from a wide range of uses to be added to the NPRI.
Certain characteristics of their behaviour in the environment make PFAS extremely important to be aware of and take action on. They are very persistent or will partially transform into very persistent substances. Therefore, they remain in the environment for hundreds if not thousands of years – hence they are often called the “forever” chemicals.
Because PFAS are used, released, or transferred from a wide range of types of facilities, and due to their rapid mobility in water and ability to circulate in air, ECCC has concluded that PFAS are “ubiquitous” contaminants in the Canadian environment.
As a result, PFAS are a major threat because they last forever and are found everywhere.
Health impacts associated with PFAS exposure include: altered immune and thyroid function; liver and kidney diseases; impacts to reproductive and developmental systems (including delays in onset of puberty in girls); and increased risk of certain cancers such as breast and thyroid.
The Good and the Not-So-Good of PFAS Reporting
While adding PFAS to the NPRI is a major step forward, there are still improvements to be made. Learn more about the good and bad of PFAS reporting in the next blog in this series “The Good and Not-so-Good of PFAS Reporting under Canada’s Community Right to Know Pollution Inventory ”.
Blog: PFAS – “Forever” and “Everywhere” Chemicals Added to Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory
Blog by: John Jackson, Citizens’ Network on Waste Management and Fe de Leon, Canadian Environmental Law Association
John and Fe were members of the NPRI PFAS sub-group, which was created under the NPRI Work Group to provide advice to NPRI office of Environment and Climate Change Canada on a plan to report PFAS in NPRI.
Canada has made an important decision towards improving community right-to-know of chemicals in the environment by adding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), Canada’s main pollution registry.
The NPRI was established under section 46 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) as an information-gathering measure for those pollutants annually designated by notice from the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change as requiring reporting by facilities (such as government agencies, industry, municipalities).
Through a Canada Gazette Notice released in March 2025, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) added 163 PFAS substances to the NPRI substance list. Each PFAS is required to be reported annually by any facility that manufactures, processes, or otherwise uses one kilogram or more of that substance at a concentration of 0.1% by weight or more. Each facility is required to report to the NPRI on their annual on-site releases of PFAS to air, surface waters, land, and disposal. They also are required to report transfers off-site for recycling, energy recovery, and treatment and disposal.
The first year for which facilities are required to report on PFAS substances is for the amount released and transferred during the whole of 2025. As is the normal procedure, the 2025 data will be reported to NPRI in June of the following year, in this case, June 2026. That data usually becomes available to the public through the NPRI in early fall [i.e., fall 2026].
The Importance of Community Right-to-Know and PFAS
People across the country have been calling for stronger action on PFAS. In some communities (e.g., Hamilton and North Bay in Ontario), PFAS have been discovered in the community’s environment as a result of fire control chemicals used at airports and military bases, which have been documented all across Canada.
But it is clear that PFAS are being released to the environment not just because of use in fire control. Many Canadians do not know what PFAS substances are being released or their sources.
As a result, activists have been working to increase community right-to-know by requiring data on PFAS releases from a wide range of uses to be added to the NPRI.
Certain characteristics of their behaviour in the environment make PFAS extremely important to be aware of and take action on. They are very persistent or will partially transform into very persistent substances. Therefore, they remain in the environment for hundreds if not thousands of years – hence they are often called the “forever” chemicals.
Because PFAS are used, released, or transferred from a wide range of types of facilities, and due to their rapid mobility in water and ability to circulate in air, ECCC has concluded that PFAS are “ubiquitous” contaminants in the Canadian environment.
As a result, PFAS are a major threat because they last forever and are found everywhere.
Health impacts associated with PFAS exposure include: altered immune and thyroid function; liver and kidney diseases; impacts to reproductive and developmental systems (including delays in onset of puberty in girls); and increased risk of certain cancers such as breast and thyroid.
The Good and the Not-So-Good of PFAS Reporting
While adding PFAS to the NPRI is a major step forward, there are still improvements to be made. Learn more about the good and bad of PFAS reporting in the next blog in this series “The Good and Not-so-Good of PFAS Reporting under Canada’s Community Right to Know Pollution Inventory ”.
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