Frequently Asked Questions

The Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CCTFA) is the primary voice of the cosmetics and personal care products industry in Canada. We maintain a constant dialogue with the Canadian government and work with our member companies to ensure cosmetics and personal care products are safe and effective. We have been doing this since 1928.

CCTFA member companies are the leading companies in the cosmetics and personal care products industry in Canada and encompass 80-90% of the industry. They also represent a large portion of the approximately $7.4 billion in cosmetics and personal care products that are purchased in retail stores annually in Canada.

One of the main objectives of our member companies is to ensure the safe and effective use of their products.

Although we work very closely with the Canadian government, we are not a government organization and do not receive any government funding. We are the leading Canadian trade association for the cosmetics and personal care products industry and are funded solely by our member companies.

Yes, there are other associations representing the cosmetics and personal care products industry worldwide. CCTFA works very closely with these associations to assist in aligning our regulatory processes internationally, which helps to ensure the safety of products imported into Canada. Following is a list of some of these associations:

• Personal Care Products Council - U.S. Association (www.personalcarecouncil.org)
• CTPA - UK Association (www.ctpa.org.uk)
• Colipa - European Association (www.colipa.eu)
• ACCORD - Australian Association (www.accord.asn.au)
• JCIA - Japan Cosmetic Industry Association (www.jcia.org)

CCTFA Member companies are listed on the CCTFA website. You can click on their link to go to their individual websites for specific product information.

The cosmetics and personal care products industry is uniquely focused on helping individuals increase their sense of well-being. It's about health and beauty, it's about looking and feeling your best, confidently showing your face to the outside world. Feeling confident and looking great in this fast-paced world is something to get excited about. It is important to remember that the personal care products industry is not only cosmetics, but includes such things as shampoo, shaving cream, suntan lotion, antiperspirant, acne cream and nail polish.

CCTFA member companies are on the leading edge of helping people everywhere feel good about themselves, helping to raise our sense of well-being and to maintain our personal hygiene and body health. These companies are highly innovative in product development and are responsive to evolving demand-creating products that meet the expressed needs of consumers.

CCTFA member companies are at the forefront of advanced product development and truly have their fingers on the pulse of evolving demand. They are responsive to growing and emerging markets and science.

Mandatory ingredient labelling of cosmetics and personal care products has been the law in Canada since November 2006. Products are labelled using the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) system. This form of labelling for cosmetics and personal care products was adopted to ensure that the same names were being used internationally for all ingredients in these products.

If you have an allergy or sensitivity to an ingredient, we recommend that you work in partnership with your health care practitioner who will be able to help you identify the ingredient(s) that are likely to cause problems for you. We also recommend contacting the product manufacturer at their 1-800 number.

We suggest you visit our member company websites. You may also wish to contact these companies directly regarding product specific concerns or questions that you may have.

Yes, cosmetics and personal care products are safe. One of the highest priorities of the industry is to ensure the health and safety of consumers by marketing products that are safe and effective.

Like other consumer products associations, CCTFA and our member companies have a long history of working with Health Canada authorities to ensure consumer safety and confidence in their industry.

Canadian laws and regulations provide consumers with a significant degree of protection, but cannot prevent misuse of cosmetics and personal care products by the user. It is extremely important to read and follow any directions for use provided on the product label or inside the package. This information is provided to assist the user in avoiding potential hazards and is a vital factor in the safe use of these products.

For additional information on the ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, please visit www.cosmeticsinfo.org. Keep in mind that this website references U.S. regulations and not Canadian, where our products are regulated under Health Canada. This website is a great resource for safety information about cosmetics and personal care products, their ingredients and how they are tested.

Cosmetics and personal care products are subject to at least three levels of scrutiny as to their safety for use by consumers.

First, ingredient suppliers have a legalobligation to ensure the safety of the substances they produce for the purposes they are intended.

Second, manufacturers have this same obligation to safety when blending ingredients to make finished products. Failure to meet current standards could open an ingredient supplier or manufacturer to public criticism, lawsuits and even potentially the loss of their business.

Third, governments have created various regulatory requirements imposed by law as a further safeguard of consumer safety.

In Canada, government regulation is specifically provided by Health Canada based on the most current scientific knowledge and information. By law, cosmetics and personal care products cannot contain ingredients or quantities of ingredients that can cause injury to human health.

Health Canada also maintains a list of prohibited or restricted ingredients that is updated regularly. Furthermore, the ingredients and their formulation for each cosmetic and personal care product must be filed with Health Canada by the manufacturer. Although this data is not directly available to the public for proprietary reasons, it allows Health Canada to review new products and maintain a national database that can be used to contact suppliers if and when new information regarding risk should become known.

The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) is also an important resource for safe use information and is used by regulators and the industry worldwide. The CIR provides an independent assessment of cosmetic and personal care product ingredients on a risk-priority basis and publishes its findings in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Based on the very latest knowledge available, manufacturers work with ingredient suppliers to ensure that the ingredients they are producing are safe.

In addition, CCTFA member companies have actively supported Health Canada’s requirements to ensure ingredient labelling on all cosmetics personal care product packaging as well as the implementation of internationally recognized ingredient names. These initiatives help to ensure that consumers, their healthcare providers and scientists are able to correctly identify product ingredients no matter where they are manufactured.

Click here for additional information on how Health Canada regulates cosmetics and personal care products in Canada.

On December 1, 2004, Health Canada revised the Cosmetic Regulations to include mandatory ingredient labelling on all cosmetics and personal care products sold in Canada.

After a 24-month compliance period, which ended November 2006, ingredient labelling is now in effect. Health Canada also provided retailers with an additional one-year period to deplete existing inventory. At this point, consumers should see a complete list of ingredients on all cosmetic and personal care product packaging sold in Canada.

Health Canada requires that cosmetic and personal care products be safe, and that labelling be truthful and clear. Health Canada will not allow any product that does not meet these standards to be sold in the Canadian market.

The International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, abbreviated INCI, is a system of names for ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products, based on scientific names and other Latin and English words.

In Canada, the regulatory authority for INCI usecomes from the Food and Drugs Act and Cosmetic Regulations. INCI names are mandated on the ingredient statement of every cosmetic and personal care product. The INCI system allows the consumer to identify the ingredient content no matter where they are in the world.

There is a general assumption that "natural" products are healthier than similar ones using synthetic ingredients. Often, however, these "natural" ingredients are no different in composition than their synthetic counterparts.

In fact, a synthetic substance, which mimics a natural one, can sometimes provide a purer, more stable ingredient which gives the product a longer shelf life. Health Canada considers both natural and synthetic ingredients to be equally suitable for use in cosmetics.

Yes, Health Canada maintains a list of all ingredients that are prohibited from use in cosmetics and personal care products (Cosmetic Ingredient “Hotlist”) and this list is available on-line at their website. Each company must file a list of all ingredients in their product with Health Canada within 10 days of first sale in the marketplace. This provides a check on new products and generates a database that Health Canada can use to contact suppliers if and when new information regarding risk should become known. Health Canada is continuously working with international regulators to ensure this list is current and continuously updated.

Fine fragrances and fragrance materials, like all cosmetics and personal care products, are regulated by Health Canada under the Food & Drugs Act.

Fragrances are international in scope and fragrances that are sold in Canada are often identical to those available in the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world. Safety issues are addressed on an international basis by a number of organizations such as the International Fragrance Association, (IFRA), and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, (RIFM).

Fragrance users are strongly encouraged to be courteous and respectful in their use of fragrance and to keep the fragrance within their personal "scent circle", about an arm’s length away.

To access additional information on fragrances, please visit the Scented Products Education and Information Association of Canada (SPEIAC) and The Fragrance Foundation. Additional links can be found at "Links of Interest".

The creation of fragrance is an excellent example of nature and science working together. Many raw materials are taken from natural sources including flowers, herbs, spices, fruits, roots and grains. The desired materials are then isolated from the plants using a combination of mechanical, distillation, extraction and evaporation techniques. These ingredients are enhanced by manufactured materials which may reproduce natural elements that cannot be obtained in large quantities or have unique properties not known to nature.

For thousands of years, fragrances have been enjoyed and have contributed to people's individuality, self-esteem and personal hygiene. Fragrance dates as far back as the Egyptians, who used aromatic plants to create massage oils, medicines, embalming preparations, skin care products, fragrant perfumes and cosmetics.

To access additional information on fragrances, please visit the Scented Products Education and Information Association of Canada (SPEIAC) and The Fragrance Foundation. Additional links can be found at "Links of Interest".

Health Canada indicates that lead occurs naturally in the environment. Everyone is exposed to trace amounts of lead through air, soil, household dust, food and even drinking water. In fact, traces of lead are found in almost all food.

Furthermore, well-publicized claims that the presence of lead in certain lipstick is a health hazard have been dismissed by the Attorney General of the state of California,who confirmed that the claims had no validity. Click here to read the news story.

A misleading e-mail has been circulating which attempts to assert that several major brands of lipstick contain dangerous levels of lead. This information is FALSE.

One version of this hoax attempts to establish credibility by citing a Dr. Nahid Neman from Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. This doctor does not exist.

Click here for further debunking information on this hoax.

Over the past few years, e-mails have been circulating about antiperspirants/deodorants causing breast cancer. These rumours are FALSE.

The Canadian Cancer Society discredits the specific details of this hoax. According to a number of leading cancer research organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, "there is no plausible mechanism by which antiperspirants and deodorants could cause, or even increase, a man's or woman's risk of breast cancer."
Thorough epidemiological studies of breast cancer risk found no association between antiperspirant use and the risk of breast cancer (Mirick et al, 2002, JNCI Vol. 94, No. 20: 1578-1580).

Look Good Feel Better, a program of the CCTFA Foundation, is Canada’s only cancer program dedicated to helping women manage the effects that cancer and its treatment can have on their appearance.

For many women, these effects can be as devastating as the diagnosis itself. As a result, Look Good Feel Better is based on the concept that, if a woman with cancer can be helped to look good, chances are she will feel better too. This improved self-image helps a woman face cancer and its treatment with greater confidence and courage.

In an effort to give back to the community that supports their industry, in 1992 CCTFA member companies pledged their commitment to women with cancer and established the CCTFA Foundation to launch the Look Good Feel Better program. Look Good Feel Better is supported by CCTFA member companies and does not compete for research dollars, nor does it receive government grants. Each year, the member companies of the CCTFA donate more than $2 million worth of product to the Look Good Feel Better workshop kits. Many of the Look Good Feel Better volunteers are employees of CCTFA member companies who generously donate their time and expertise to help women with cancer.

In addition, CCTFA member companies participate enthusiastically in corporate fundraising events throughout the year to help ensure the successful delivery of the program. Look Good Feel Better would not be possible without them.

For additional details about the Look Good Feel Better program, we encourage you to visit our website, www.lookgoodfeelbetter.ca.

Look Good Feel Better is a registered charity under BN 13374 0316 RR0001.