Canada’s Plastics Registry Reporting Delayed Until September 2027 for Most HVACR Products

If there is plastic in the equipment or products that your company produces or imports, you may be required to submit a report into Canada’s Plastics Registry. 

The Registry calls for annual disclosure by manufacturers or importers of the amount of plastic produced or brought into Canada, within products or in their packaging. 

There are three different phases in reporting for the Plastics Registry, two of which are relevant to the HVACR industry: 

Phase 1 – products that may end up in residential waste streams (plastic packaging, electronic and electrical equipment, and single-use or disposable products) – this phase could include HVACR equipment or components that are replaced by homeowners, and reporting for this Phase began in September 2025. 

Phase 2 – Plastic waste destined for industrial, commercial, and institutional, or construction waste streams. It’s this category that would likely capture most HVACR equipment produced or imported by HRAI members. 

On March 14, 2026, two documents were published in Canada Gazette making or proposing changes to the Plastics Registry. 

1 – An amendment to the 2024 Canada Gazette Notice, delaying mandatory reporting for Phase 2 and 3 categories until September 2027. (Link: click here.) 

2 – A Notice of Intent, indicating that a new Gazette Notice and public consultation will be issued for the Federal Plastics Registry for the 2027, 2028 and 2029 calendar years. (Link: click here) 

Although reporting for Phases 2 and 3 is delayed, the timelines and reporting obligations for Phase 1 remain unchanged (next deadline: Sept 29, 2026 for the 2025 calendar year’s data).  

The templates for the 2025 and 2026 reporting years are available on ECCC’s resources page, and no changes to these templates have been made.  

With this change, companies have an additional 12 months to prepare for submitting data on the plastic content from their Canadian products and packaging. You may find it helpful to review a 2025 webinar hosted by HRAI, with guidance from Claigan Environmental for completing a data submission to the Plastics Registry (Link: click here). 

If you have questions about Canada’s plastics registry, please reach out to Perry Chao, HRAI’s Regulatory Affairs Director, at pchao@hrai.ca. 

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