The environmental stewardship of the following plants includes planning and managing their use to reduce resistance development and to protect the environment:
- herbicide tolerant plants
- insect resistant plants
- disease resistant plants
This responsible management is a joint effort by:
- growers
- product developers
- academia
- regulatory bodies
Environmental stewardship can involve:
- sharing and applying best management practices through national and local programs
- working with provincial and academic experts
- implementing product‑specific stewardship plans
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency may require environmental stewardship plans for plants with novel traits (PNTs) as a tool to manage potential risk to the environment.
Environmental stewardship for different types of plants
| Plant type | Goal | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Herbicide tolerant |
|
Integrated weed management principles
|
| Insect resistant |
|
Integrated pest management principles
|
| Disease resistant |
|
Integrated disease management principles
|
Additional information on environmental stewardship
There is a variety of information available to help growers determine the best stewardship measures to implement.
Learn about available information and resources on crop protection in Canada:
- Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency resistance management labelling guidance, Regulatory Directive DIR2013-04
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada guidance on managing plant pests, risk mitigation and crop protection
- The Canadian Corn Pest Coalition
- Seed sellers, plant developers and industry associations (for example, Manage Resistance Now, Canadian Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Toolbox (English only))
Find your provincial government crop protection guidance:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Saskatchewan
- Quebec
Plants with novel traits authorized with stewardship conditions
Not all plants with improved characteristics are considered plants with novel traits (PNTs). Find guidance on determining the novelty of a plant, the types of environmental release and application process for PNTs in Canada:
Applying for environmental release of plants with novel traits in Canada
In some cases, PNTs may be authorized with conditions to implement stewardship measures to manage potential environmental risks. Once a PNT is authorized for release, stewardship obligations continue throughout the life of the product, even after its patent has expired.
Access more information about specific traits that the CFIA have previously reviewed:
Plants with novel traits (PNT) and novel feeds from plant sources approved in Canada
Access more information about plants determined to be non-novel by the CIFA:
List of non-novel products of plant breeding for environmental release