Overview of changes to labelling and grades of fresh fruits and vegetables to reduce red tape and support resilience

On this page

Introduction

The Government of Canada is committed to taking decisive action to strengthen Canada's economy and global competitiveness. On October 8, 2025, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) delivered on this commitment through a suite of regulatory changes aimed at reducing red tape and supporting economic resiliency for Canada's agricultural sector.

These regulatory changes, which were committed to as part of CFIA's Progress Report on Red Tape Reduction, are now official and available online. The Regulations Amending the Health of Animals Regulations and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (Reducing Red Tape and Supporting Resilience – Import Reference Document, Hatcheries, and Fresh Fruits and Vegetables) were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

For fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV), these are the amendments that the CFIA made to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), without compromising food safety or consumer protection:

  • removed overly prescriptive labelling requirements
  • removed mandatory grading requirements for FFV destined for manufacturing, processing or preserving
  • transferred responsibility of certain FFV grade requirements to the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation
  • updated grade requirements

Removed overly prescriptive labelling requirements

  • Exemptions
    • consumer prepackaged FFV are exempted from net quantity declaration requirements in these cases:
      • when the quantity of FFV is 6 or fewer in a transparent container and is clearly visible
      • when the FFV are packaged using a confining band (no quantity limit)
    • FFV that are packaged in a clear transparent protective wrapper or bag (to protect the produce from handling damage, like wrapped greenhouse English seedless cucumbers) will be exempted from mandatory labelling requirements because they are now considered "unpackaged" (for example, loose apples)
  • Amendments
    • amended the minimum type height for mandatory labelling information (country of origin, grade, size designation, and net quantity) to 1.6 mm for these products:
      • consumer prepackaged FFV (for example, produce that is packaged in a container before being sold to an individual consumer)
      • non-consumer prepackaged FFV (for example, produce in shipping containers and bulk bins)
    • made FFV size designation statements optional and, if used, the minimum type height is now 1.6 mm (for example, labels on packages of carrots graded as "Canada No 1" will no longer need to state "38mm and up" or "1 ½ inches and up" on the label close to the grade name)
    • updated Units of Measurement for the Net Quantity Declaration of Certain Foods, a document incorporated by reference into the SFCR, to allow declaration by weight, volume or numerical count for these items:
      • consumer prepackaged ears of fresh sweet corn
      • non-consumer prepackaged ears of fresh sweet corn
      • non-consumer prepackaged FFV that are packaged in a bag, unless otherwise specified in the document

Removed mandatory grading requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables destined for manufacturing, processing or preserving

FFV grades are used to categorize produce into different grade classes, such as "Canada No. 1", based on quality attributes. Grades do not play a role in food safety, consumer protection or nutritional value.

Some FFV that are traded between provinces, or that are imported, are destined for manufacturing, processing or preserving (for example, vegetables used to make pickles). The regulatory amendments removed the mandatory grading requirements for these FFV to provide flexibility and reduce regulatory burden for industry. They do not require a Ministerial Exemption to address shortage. Refer to Ministerial Exemptions for alleviating a shortage in Canada for more information.

  • FFV destined for repacking must meet the grading requirements. Only labelling and packaging requirements may be waived by Ministerial Exemption for these products

Transferred responsibility of certain grades to the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation

The regulatory amendments transferred the authority to maintain FFV grades (except for apples, onions and potatoes) from the CFIA to the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) and created a new document entitled "Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grade Requirements". The document is incorporated by reference into the SFCR and will be owned and maintained by the DRC. The CFIA will establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DRC to set appropriate terms regarding grade updates.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grade Requirements

This new document will apply to all FFV grades except apples, onions and potatoes.

These are the administrative aspects of the document:

Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 2 - Fresh Fruit or Vegetables

Before the regulatory amendments transferred the responsibility of certain grades to the DRC, Canadian FFV grade requirements were located in Volume 2 of the Canadian Grade Compendium, a document prepared by the CFIA and incorporated by reference into the SFCR.

After the regulatory amendments and after the MOU is finalized, this volume will only keep grade requirements for apples, onions and potatoes because the SFCR have specific grading import requirements for these products and these requirements support trade. It will no longer include all other FFV grades because they will now be located in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grade Requirements document.

These are the administrative aspects of the document:

Updated grade requirements

The following changes will be reflected in the new Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grade Requirements and the updated Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 2 - Fresh Fruit or Vegetables. They will come into force when the MOU is finalized and the documents are published:

Consequential amendments

The regulatory changes made consequential amendments to the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 9 – Import Grade Requirements and the Grade Standard Requirements for Fresh Fruits or Vegetables Imported from the United States that are incorporated by reference into the SFCR. The CFIA will update the documents once the MOU is finalized.

Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 9 - Import Grade Requirements

This document will include:

  • a reference to the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grade Requirements
  • import grade names for imported nectarines

Grade Standard Requirements for Fresh Fruits or Vegetables Imported from the United States

This document will include:

  • a change of the minimum length requirement for greenhouse long seedless cucumbers to 254 mm (10 inches)
  • diameter and weight requirements for round-type potatoes to reflect the 2019 test market authorization

The following will be removed:

  • exemptions from the grade requirements for field cucumbers and greenhouse long seedless cucumbers for manufacturing, processing or preserving. They will be removed because they are covered by the SFCR amendments that exempted all FFV destined for manufacturing, processing or preserving from the grading requirements

Transition period

The regulations came into force on the day that they are registered. Because the regulatory amendments removed prescriptive requirements for FFV labelling and grades, and they did not trigger any labelling changes, no transition period was provided. In addition, the CFIA continues to be responsible for enforcing FFV grades. There is no change to the level of inspection, what is inspected, how food labels are inspected or the enforcement approach.

Reference tools

As a result of these regulatory amendments, provisions related to FFV labelling and grades in the SFCR and the documents incorporated by reference into the SFCR have changed. To help stakeholders navigate the new regulatory framework, the CFIA updated the Industry Labelling Tool and will update other guidance documents and the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).

Date modified: