Report an incident involving a consumer product or cosmetic: overview

Reporting injuries, near misses and safety concerns about consumer products and cosmetics is easy and could save lives. Learn what to report and how to report.

Why it's important to report

Many injuries can be prevented. By sharing your story about consumer products and cosmetics that may cause harm, you can help us stop similar incidents or injuries from happening to other children and families.

Sharing your story helps us monitor the safety of products and how they're used. We use your reports to help us look into possible dangers. If there are dangers, we take action to help keep you and those you care about safe.

Who can report

Anyone can report an incident related to a consumer product or cosmetic. Reporting by consumers is voluntary.

Parents and caregivers can report on behalf of their child or someone they care for. Health care professionals can encourage their patients to report or they can submit a report on behalf of their patients.

Fire and safety authorities can also report a problem with a consumer product. In this case, they would report products for situations involving fire, smoke or overheating.

Industry (manufacturers, importers, sellers) must report health or safety incidents involving a consumer product. This requirement is outlined in Section 14 of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. However, reporting is voluntary for health or safety issues involving a cosmetic.

When to report

You should report a product if:

someone has been injured or nearly injured, has a bad reaction or dies from using it
property has been damaged
the product may harm someone because it doesn't work like it's supposed to
safety instructions or labels appear to be missing, confusing or wrong
you suspect that there has been a violation of the animal testing ban on cosmetics

What to report

You should share:

what happened and when
what the product is and where you got it
any injuries or near misses that occurred and if treatment was needed
photos of the product, product labels and injury or property damage caused by the product
the web address (URL) and/or other identifying numbers, such as the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) and product number, if the product was purchased online
how to contact you for more details about the incident (only if we need to)

Types of products to report

You may report an incident involving any consumer product or cosmetic, such as:

household chemicals
furniture and lighting
creams and cleansers
batteries and chargers
appliances and devices
clothing and accessories
makeup and moisturizers
children's products and toys
sporting and athletic products

What might happen

Reporting might result in:

monitoring for similar situations
products being reviewed for safety
warnings and safety alerts being issued
products being recalled, which may involve them being fixed, replaced or taken off the market

The more people who report, with more complete information, the more it informs actions that can be taken.

Find information on recalls, advisories and safety alerts.

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2024-11-01

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