The Role of Natural Health Products in Canada’s Healthcare Future
Natural Health Products Are Part of Everyday Healthcare
Natural health products are not a niche category. More than 80% of Canadians use NHPs, including vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and herbal products, as part of their daily health management.
In addition to everyday use, many NHPs are integrated into healthcare settings and used alongside pharmaceuticals. Vitamin D and calcium, for example, are commonly used in institutional and high-risk populations to help reduce fracture risk, while probiotics can be used to help prevent hospital-acquired infections.
Preventative healthcare plays an important role in reducing pressure on Canada’s already strained healthcare system. CHFA commissioned research suggests the use of natural health products could help avoid approximately $2.3 billion in healthcare costs over 25 years.
An Uneven Playing Field for Canadian Businesses
While Canadians continue to rely on these products, Canadian brands – particularly small and medium sized enterprises are facing increasing pressure from regulatory burden and red tape. At the same time, foreign companies continue to access the Canadian market without meeting the same standards, creating an uneven playing field for domestic businesses.
Under the Food and Drugs Act, Canadians can import a personal supply of health products, commonly understood as up to 90 days. In practice, this pathway is increasingly being leveraged at commercial scale by foreign companies to access the Canadian market without meeting Canadian regulatory requirements.
CHFA analysis estimates this represents roughly:
- $450 million annually in products operating outside Canadian regulatory oversight
- Nearly 10% of the Canadian natural health product market
- Approximately $51 million in lost annual tax revenue
“It’s like asking one team to play by the rulebook, while the other team gets to decide on its own rules. If requirements continue to tighten without closing that gap, consumption won’t go down, it will keep moving outside the Canadian system. Less production. Less control. Less sovereignty.”
CHFAs Advocacy Efforts
CHFA actively advocates on behalf of the natural health product industry and the Canadians who rely on these products every day.
As noted in the Committee discussion, CHFA’s advocacy efforts as part of our Save Our Supplements campaign helped drive one of the largest letter-writing campaigns Canada has seen in recent years, demonstrating the strong public support for protecting access to natural health products and reducing unnecessary regulatory burden so Canadian businesses can thrive.
CHFA will continue working with government and stakeholders to support smart, proportionate regulation that protects consumer safety while getting more healthy living products into the hands of more Canadians.
Looking Ahead
The question before policymakers is not whether natural health products should be regulated. They already are. The question is whether Canada will maintain control over this important part of the healthcare market or allow more of it to move outside Canadian oversight.
