Most amendments took effect on registration
Canada registered SOR/2026-174 on August 7, 2026, amending the Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations and related enforcement instruments.
Most provisions came into force on registration. The amendments are intended to improve implementation of Canada’s existing cross-border waste regime and to put domestic measures in place for future implementation of the Basel Convention Ban Amendment.
The changes are environmental and waste-shipment rules rather than medical-device market-access requirements.
Export permits must be held before the shipment moves
The amended regulations expressly require a person proposing to export a shipment containing hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material to hold an export permit before the shipment is moved for that purpose.
A similar requirement now applies where a shipment is exported from Canada, transits through a foreign country, and is then imported back into Canada.
This removes ambiguity around when the permit must be in place. For regulated movements, the permit is a pre-movement requirement rather than documentation that can be completed after the shipment has started.
The amendments also clarify how waste is identified
The regulatory text has been revised to clarify the assessment of whether something is waste.
The definition now includes additional criteria addressing whether the material can still be used for its original purpose, can be used for another purpose, or can be altered to restore a useful purpose.
ECCC states that the amendment is intended to clarify the assessment criteria rather than change the underlying population of materials considered hazardous waste.
The Basel Ban export prohibition has a separate commencement rule
SOR/2026-174 adds a prohibition intended to implement the Basel Convention Ban Amendment.
Once the relevant provision is in force, Canada will prohibit exports of hazardous waste and most hazardous recyclable material to destination countries that are not listed in Annex VII of the Convention, subject to the precise regulatory definitions and conditions.
That prohibition did not automatically become effective with the rest of the amendments on August 7.
Section 6 of SOR/2026-174 comes into force on the 90th day after Canada ratifies the Basel Ban Amendment, unless the regulations are registered after that date, in which case the provision comes into force on registration. Companies therefore need to monitor ratification and the resulting commencement date rather than treating the Canada Gazette publication date as the start of the Ban Amendment prohibition.
The amendment does not bring all e-waste under the Basel controls
The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement also addresses the separate Basel e-waste amendments that took effect internationally on January 1, 2025.
Those amendments make hazardous and non-hazardous electrical and electronic waste subject to the Convention’s controls. Canada issued a notification of non-acceptance and is proceeding without regulatory amendments to control all e-waste at this time.
This distinction matters for companies managing returned or scrapped electronic equipment. Existing Canadian regulations already control certain circuit boards, display devices, equipment containing them, and batteries under specified conditions, but SOR/2026-174 should not be read as a new rule that automatically brings every end-of-life electronic product into the same permit regime.
Why this can matter to medical-device companies
Medical-device manufacturers may encounter these rules through repair, return, recycling, or disposal flows rather than through product registration.
A returned device, battery pack, printed circuit board, display assembly, or other component may become regulated hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material depending on its condition, destination, hazardous characteristics, and the applicable Canadian and destination-country rules.
The compliance question is therefore often whether the item is still being moved as a usable product or has become waste or recyclable material subject to the cross-border regime.
What companies can check
- Map cross-border Canadian flows for returned, scrapped, or recyclable devices, batteries, printed circuit boards, and display assemblies.
- Confirm the legal status of the item before shipment: usable product, waste, or hazardous recyclable material.
- Make sure any required export permit is issued before the shipment starts moving.
- Check whether the destination or transit country classifies the material as hazardous or imposes additional import restrictions.
- Add the Basel Ban ratification and commencement date to environmental-compliance monitoring.
For medical-device companies, SOR/2026-174 belongs primarily in EHS, logistics, service, and end-of-life workflows. The risk is not the sale of the device itself, but treating a cross-border waste or recycling movement as ordinary product logistics after the item’s legal status has changed.
Sources
- Primary official sourceRegulations Amending Certain Department of the Environment Regulations: SOR/2026-174 (opens in a new tab)Canada Gazette
- Supporting sourceCross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations - Overview (opens in a new tab)Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Supporting sourceBasel convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (opens in a new tab)Environment and Climate Change Canada