The use of pesticides is now so widespread in our society that we tend to
forget that these products are actually designed to destroy and control
organisms deemed to be undesirable or offensive, including plants, insects
and rodents.
When pesticides are applied, the environment can be contaminated by these
substances, whether it is water, air or soil. Indeed pesticides can react
indiscriminatingly and can have detrimental effects on non targeted
organisms, including man. For these reasons many countries have regulated
the use and sale of these products.
In Canada, pesticides come under the shared authority of the federal,
provincial, territorial governments as well as municipal entities. The
federal government controls, among other things, pesticide registration,
marketing and labelling. Provinces and territories can regulate the sale,
use, storage, transportation and disposal of pesticides registered by the
federal government. They also have the power to restrict or prohibit within
their area of jurisdiction, the use of registered products. In several
provinces, municipalities have the power to enact more exhaustive
regulations, principally for pesticides uses in urban areas, by taking into
account their local specificity.
Initiatives based mainly on information, public awareness and search for
alternate solutions to the use of pesticides complement the regulatory
control.