Pesticides

Canadians take pride in having grass lawns around their homes and many use lawn care products to maintain them. However, pesticide use for lawn care has become an issue in many communities across Canada, due to an increased awareness of the potential impact that human activities can have on our shared environment.

“Our shared environment” amounts to the entire world. Every drop of poison, hunk of plastic, cigarette butt and puff of toxic car exhaust pollutes my world, your world, your kid's world and your grand kid's world. As we are learning, products like pesticides and animal byproducts show up in the darnedest places like your drinking water. Remember Walkerton? The solution is simple. Reduce your use of products that are poisonous. Please.

Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is responsible for registering all pesticides used in Canada . Rigorous health, environmental and value assessments are carried out on each pesticide before it is allowed to be sold or used in Canada.

The PMRA supports reducing reliance on pesticides and, along with provincial and territorial governments, has created a national Healthy Lawns Strategy. Under this strategy, information encouraging homeowners to adopt environmentally sound lawn care practices, such as using pesticides only when necessary, has been developed. A well-maintained, healthy lawn is less likely to suffer from pest problems or need pesticides.

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