Guidance for laser products: Overview
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- About this guidance
- Regulations governing the sale, lease and import of laser products in Canada
- Contact us
About this guidance
Health Canada's guidance gives general information to regulated parties and stakeholders on how to comply with governing acts and regulations. It also outlines compliance guidance to staff, so that mandates are implemented fairly, consistently and effectively.
Health Canada's Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau administers the Radiation Emitting Devices Act and its regulations. These govern the sale, lease or import of radiation emitting devices, including laser products, in Canada.
This guidance gives general information about Schedule II, Part VII of the Radiation Emitting Devices Regulations, which govern laser products in Canada. It is not intended to substitute for, supersede or limit the requirements under the Radiation Emitting Devices Act and its Regulations. In case of any discrepancy between this summary and the legislation, the legislation will prevail.
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Regulations governing the sale, lease and import of laser products in Canada
In this guidance document:
- regulations means Schedule I, Item 7 and Schedule II, Part VII of the Radiation Emitting Devices Regulations
- IEC standard means the International Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 60825-1: Safety of laser products - Part 1: Equipment classification and requirements, published in 2014
- person means an individual or organization
- manufacturer means a person engaged in the business of manufacturing a laser product, or of modifying or assembling, to any extent, radiation emitting devices
- importer means a person bringing a laser product into Canada for any purpose
- distributor means a person engaged in the business of selling or leasing a laser product
Under the regulations, a laser product is any device that can be made to produce or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of 180 nm to 1 mm, primarily by the process of controlled stimulated emission.
Laser products may have:
- a single laser with or without a separate power supply
- 1 or more lasers incorporated into a complex optical, electrical or mechanical system
Laser products must meet the requirements of the regulations when they come into force on October 9, 2025.
Laser products that are sold, leased or imported into Canada must:
- be assigned to 1 of 8 laser hazard classes using specific testing methods and classification rules
- have appropriate built-in engineering safety features to control laser radiation hazards
These products must also have:
- labelling in either English or French to identify the product and its origins to support compliance monitoring, verification and enforcement activities
- labelling in English and French to show the laser class and warnings to help individuals be aware of potential hazards and
- accompanying information in English and French to help people make more informed decisions to protect themselves and others
The requirements for laser hazard classification, engineering features, labelling and information are derived from specific parts of the IEC standard. The requirements for laser-based projectors are derived from the IEC 62471 series of standards.
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Laser hazard classes
The IEC laser hazard classification system was developed to apply appropriate control measures to protect people from health or safety risks to the eyes and skin. For example, the higher the laser hazard class, the more stringent the engineering, labelling and accompanying information measures must be.
As taken from the IEC standard, the regulations categorize laser products from the lowest to the highest hazard class as follows: Class 1, 1C, 1M, 2, 2M, 3R, 3B and 4.
Contact us
For questions, comments or concerns on the Radiation Emitting Devices Act or its regulations, email Health Canada's Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau at ccrpb-pcrpcc@hc-sc.gc.ca.