Only health products that Health Canada authorizes for sale in Canada may be advertised. Specific requirements exist for advertisements of prescription drugs to consumers.
Health Canada is the national regulatory authority for health product advertisements. We:
Our department is committed to ensuring that information in a health product advertisement is not false, misleading or deceptive. We may intervene when an advertisement poses a significant safety concern, in the event that resolution is not achieved through the independent agencies' complaints mechanism, when a prescription drug is illegally advertised to the general public or when an unauthorized health product is promoted.
Health product advertisements are reviewed and precleared by independent agencies. The List of Canadian Advertising Preclearance Agencies may be consulted for their contact information and roles.
In this section, you will find regularly updated information on regulatory advertising requirements, sources of assistance in meeting those requirements, as well as information about some of the projects that we are involved in.
Contact the Regulatory Advertising Section in Health Canada's Marketed Health Products Directorate.