Vol. 1286 | 24 Jan 2022

On December 9, 2021, the National Assembly of Quebec assented to Bill 103, Chapter 35, which repealed Chapter M-5; the Act respecting stuffing and upholstered and stuffed articles. On January 21, 2022, Quebec’s Ministry of Economy and Innovation has also published official notification on their website announcing the repeal of this law.

As a result of this repeal, manufacturers of upholstered and stuffed articles are no longer required to possess a stuffing permit, pay annual fees to obtain permits or place a label on products that are offered for sale in the province of Quebec.

Similar repeals to the upholstered and stuffed articles laws were made by the Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba governments in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The repeal in Quebec has paved way for harmonizing provincial regulations so that registration and labeling of stuffed and upholstered articles are no longer required in all three Canadian provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec) that once enforced these regulations. The repeal of Quebec’s law has also allowed for the use of ‘recycled down’ in new apparel, which was previously not permitted.

It should be noted that, the upholstered and stuffed articles must meet applicable Federal requirements under the Canada Consumer Products Safety Act and Textile Labeling Act.

The following links provide additional information about the Quebec bill for repealing the upholstered and stuffed articles act:

https://www.economie.gouv.qc.ca/en/outside-quebec/home/quebec-statute-on-stuffing-and-upholstered-and-stuffed-articles/

http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-103-42-1.html.

For questions, please contact Harini Ramaswamy (harini.ramaswamy@intertek.com, +1 847 871 1047), or Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, +1 847 212 8273).