The Canadian Paint and Coatings Association (CPCA) recognizes the growing challenge of staying up-to-date on the regulation of substances used in the coatings industry in Canada. The industry is a heavily regulated sector, and navigating the regulatory landscape can be complex.

CPCA’s job is to support members by providing access to the latest information available on current regulations, policies and legislation – and those looming on the horizon. To be forewarned is to be prepared.

We know that legislative and regulatory data is essential in business operations, including for product development, plant operations, worker safety, environmental sustainability, product performance and cross-border shipping. Access to this kind of data helps companies make better decisions across the full range of a company’s business processes.

In order to manage and mitigate risk, and to make sound business decisions, industry leadership must also have access to data related to marketing, sales, supply chains and distribution channels.

This is why CPCA developed the Canada CoatingsHUB for manufacturers and raw material suppliers shipping or producing products in Canada.

How the HUB was Created

In 2019, CPCA embarked on a digital modernization effort that saw its entire public-facing website rebranded and redesigned. More importantly, CPCA sought to create the first-of-its-kind “digital issues management platform” to provide members with real-time data on regulatory development and a wide range of issues impacting industry.

The HUB was developed by CPCA staff, along with a team of experts analyzing data, structure and the overall requirements for digital transformation. The result is an online platform providing maximum value for its users, expertly curated and searchable on all digital devices.

CPCA member companies can now access the HUB to extract relevant management information from vast amounts of unstructured data generated daily by government entities, including a very large and critical regulatory component on chemicals management and hazard communication.

What the HUB Offers

The primary objective of the HUB is to allow companies to get their products to market, following all Canadian standards and regulations. The HUB allows members to navigate the Canadian regulatory world with ease, receive notifications on issue updates of importance for the sector, and search a comprehensive database on their own time. Users have access to a fully customizable dashboard. They can manage issue notifications from their personal profile, receiving prompt updates when they are posted.

A major component of the HUB includes access to existing regulations on specific chemicals, whether they are additives for enhanced product performance or biocides used for in-can/film preservation. Regulatory requirements allow those chemicals to remain in commerce by dictating specific use levels, clarifying use restrictions, benchmarking exposure limits, and detailing other critical components that determine the final product formulation. Searching for such data on the internet - even on reputable government sites - often leads to frustration and confusion.

The HUB also provides members with quick access to industry-specific issue updates, formal industry positions and submissions, a compliance calendar, member notifications of pending government actions, and much more. It is a quick and accessible resource for companies to help them understand or confirm the status of a commercial chemical in Canada, one that may be used in a wide range of product formulations.

Latest Additions to the HUB

The HUB recently added a new feature for the benefit of member companies – a database of more than 2,000 substances used in thousands of products in Canada. This includes information on commercial chemicals used in the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomer (CASE) sector. CPCA members can search our new substance database by chemical number (CAS-RN), providing them with substance-specific information, as and when needed. This provides an ‘at-a-glance’ view of the status of substances of interest in Canada.

The new substance database also indicates whether or not the chemical is being assessed or re-assessed by government, and at what stage in that process. This means a company supplying or shipping raw materials or manufacturing finished products in Canada can immediately search the substance database to determine current compliance requirements for critical product ingredients.

The HUB also provides an opportunity for the company to provide direct input in cases where those substances are being assessed or re-evaluated. That input helps determine or support the existing status of chemicals in products, thereby ensuring they will continue in commerce by not negatively impacting human health or the environment.

A Digital Platform Like No Other

The CanadaCoatingsHUB is revolutionizing the way CPCA engages with its members. No other digital platform provides such a comprehensive resource on chemicals in paint and coatings, setting the Canada CoatingsHUB apart from other offerings on the market. With so many unique resources available, the HUB is proving to be one of the most robust, rigorous and relevant online tools for issues management today. Recently, after reviewing the Hub, an international coatings technology provider stated, “You have something now that no other coatings association in the world can even begin to boast of as companies are extremely interested in regulatory information.”