Bill C-224 Food and Drugs Act (Natural Health Products)
C-224 An Act to Amend the Food and Drugs Act (Natural Health Products) DELETED!
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: Blaine Calkins (Ponoka—Didsbury)
Status: At report stage in the House of Commons
Latest activity: Committee report presented on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 (House of Commons)
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes
C-224 is at Report Stage in the House of Commons. The Committee completed its review and reported the Bill back to the House on October 21, 2026, with all clauses deleted, including the transitional provision.
Why were the clauses deleted?
At the October 7, 2026 Health Committee meeting, members debated safety protections and regulatory costs. Opponents argued that the Bill would weaken Health Canada’s safety tools, including recall powers. Sponsor Blaine Calkins argued that substantial oversight powers already existed and that the expanded regime imposed unnecessary regulatory burdens.
Proposed Amendments intended to preserve recall-related powers were defeated. The Committee then voted against every original clause and the Bill’s title. Liberal members opposed each original clause; Bloc Québécois support varied by clause.
The record shows a disagreement over regulation and safety protections. It does not establish that fraudulent or manipulated research caused the deletions. The Committee reported the resulting text to the House, where C-224 remains at Report Stage.
The Bill still exists in the Parliamentary process, but the previously reported version contains no operative changes to the Law. Its earlier proposals concerning natural health product oversight and retroactive protection are no longer in the Bill text. This does not mean the House has defeated the Bill.
Original First Reading Bill Text:
BILL C-224 An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (natural health products)FIRST READING, September 18, 2025 Mr. Calkins 451076
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Food and Drugs Act to provide that natural health products are not therapeutic products within the meaning of that Act and, therefore, are not subject to the same monitoring regime as other drugs. Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:www.ourcommons.ca
1st Session, 45th Parliament, 3-4 Charles III, 2025HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-224 An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (natural health products)
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:R.S., c. F-27
Food and Drugs Act
1 The definition therapeutic product in section 2 of the Food and Drugs Act is replaced by the following: therapeutic product means a drug or device or any combination of drugs and devices, but does not include a natural health product within the meaning of the Natural Health Products Regulations unless it contains nicotine or its salts and is used in nicotine replacement therapy; (produit thérapeutique)
2 Section 21.321 of the Act is repealed.
3 Subsection 21.8(2) of the Act is repealed.
Transitional Provision
Proceedings
4 No proceedings may be commenced or continued in respect of an offence under section 31.2 or 31.4 of the Food and Drugs Act in relation to a product that is a natural health product within the meaning of the Natural Health Products Regulations if the offence was committed on or after the day on which section 500 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1 came into force and before the day on which this Act comes into force.
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons
“What would the original Bill change?
Natural health products would still be regulated. C-224 did not propose removing their existing product licensing, manufacturing quality or labeling requirements. It proposed removing most natural health products from the additional therapeutic product safety regime. That would remove powers extended to them in 2023, including ordering recalls for serious health risks, ordering safety related label or packaging changes, requiring information about serious risks and applying higher penalties.
Nicotine-containing products used for nicotine replacement therapy would remain in that regime.
The choice in Question 1 is not about having regulation versus no regulation. It is whether natural health products should retain these additional safety and enforcement powers. Supporters of C-224 argued the expanded regime imposed unnecessary burdens; opponents argued those powers were needed to protect consumers.”