Canada Proposes to Amend Cosmetic Ingredient Use Requirements

Introduction to Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist

The Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist (Hotlist) is an administrative tool that Health Canada uses to communicate with manufacturers and other stakeholders that certain ingredients may be prohibited or restricted for use in cosmetics. It consists of two distinct tables, one for ingredients identified as prohibited and another for those identified as restricted.

1) Prohibited ingredients, including synonyms, salts and related compounds, should not be present in cosmetic products sold in Canada.

2) Restricted ingredients are permitted only if the conditions of use and/or cautionary statement(s) are met as outlined. If the ingredient has a concentration restriction, the applicant is encouraged to provide the exact concentration used in the product at the time of notification, which will help expedite Health Canada's processing of the Cosmetic Notification Form.

The Hotlist is a science-based document that is reviewed and updated when new scientific data becomes available. Last update to the Hotlist was in August 2022.