Your Hazardous Products Need a WHMIS Label: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

If a hazardous product enters a Canadian workplace, it must be properly labelled. There are no grey areas here. WHMIS labelling isn’t optional documentation; it’s a legal requirement and a frontline safety tool.

A compliant label does more than satisfy regulation. It tells workers what the product is, what risks it presents, and how to protect themselves. When labels are missing, incorrect, or illegible, both safety and compliance are compromised.

WHMIS stands for the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. It’s Canada’s national system for communicating information about hazardous workplace products.

WHMIS is aligned with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) and is governed federally by the Hazardous Products Act (HPA) and the Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR). Health Canada oversees supplier-related requirements, while provinces, territories, and federally regulated sectors enforce workplace compliance through occupational health and safety legislation.

In Canada, any product used in a workplace that meets the criteria for classification as a hazardous product must be labelled under WHMIS.

This applies to products that are:

• Sold
• Distributed
• Imported into Canada
• Produced and used within a workplace

Responsibility depends on where the product is in the supply chain.

Suppliers

Suppliers are responsible for applying compliant supplier labels to hazardous products before they are sold or distributed in Canada. The label must be affixed directly to the container, providing compliant information separately (for example, only on shipping papers) does not meet the requirements.

Suppliers are also required to update labels when they become aware of “significant new data” that changes the product’s hazard classification or protective measures. Updates must be made within 180 days.

Employers

Employers must ensure that hazardous products entering their workplace are properly labelled. They are also responsible for creating and applying workplace labels when:

• A hazardous product is produced onsite
• A product is decanted into another container
• A supplier label becomes lost or illegible

Workplace labelling requirements are regulated at the provincial, territorial, or federal level depending on jurisdiction.

Under WHMIS, there are two primary types of labels: supplier labels and workplace labels.

1 Supplier Labels

Supplier labels are applied by manufacturers or importers and must meet the detailed requirements of the Hazardous Products Regulations.

They are required when a hazardous product is sold or distributed in Canada and must:

• Appear in both English and French
• Be clearly and prominently displayed
• Remain legible under normal conditions of use
• Group pictograms, signal words, and hazard statements together

For a deeper breakdown of supplier label structure and required elements, see our blog on WHMIS Supplier Label Requirements.

2 Workplace Labels

Workplace labels are required in specific situations within a workplace, such as decanting or when a supplier label is damaged or missing.

They typically include:

• Product name
• Safe handling information
• Reference to the Safety Data Sheet (if available)

You can learn more about workplace labels here.

A compliant supplier label must include specific, standardized information. At a high level, this includes:

• Product identifier (matching the Safety Data Sheet)
• Supplier identifier (name, address, phone number of Canadian manufacturer or importer, with limited exceptions)
• Hazard pictograms
• Signal word (“Danger” or “Warning,” where applicable)
• Hazard statements (standardized phrases describing the hazard)
• Precautionary statements (standardized instructions for safe handling, storage, response, and disposal)
• Supplemental information, where required

There is no standardized visual layout, but required elements must be grouped appropriately and be easy to read without special tools (other than corrective glasses).

For a detailed explanation of each label element and how they function together, check out our blog on Understanding WHMIS Label Elements.

WHMIS does allow certain variations in specific scenarios, including:

• Small containers (≤100 mL or ≤3 mL, with limited exemptions)
• Fold-out or accordion-style labels where space is restricted
• Bulk shipments
• Multiple-container packaging (inner and outer container rules)
• Overlap with Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) labelling

However, exemptions do not remove the requirement for hazard communication; they only adjust how the information is presented. Each scenario must still meet the core principles of visibility, legibility, and durability under normal conditions of transport and use.

A supplier label must be updated when the supplier becomes aware of “significant new data”, meaning new hazard information that changes classification, adds a hazard class, or alters protective measures.

Updates must be made within 180 days.

If employers receive updated hazard information, they must ensure relevant labels in the workplace reflect those changes. Failure to update labels can result in regulatory non-compliance and increased safety risk.

WHMIS labels are specific in both content and performance expectations. And even well-intentioned companies make avoidable errors. Common issues include:

• Providing label information separately instead of affixed to the container
• Using single-language labels
• Allowing labels to fade, peel, or become illegible
• Failing to apply workplace labels after decanting
• Not updating labels following regulatory changes
• Assuming consumer-style labels meet workplace requirements

A WHMIS label must remain legible under normal conditions of use, which means it has to withstand handling, abrasion, chemical exposure, moisture, UV light, and time.

At Industrial Nameplates, we manufacture WHMIS-compliant labels engineered for real-world conditions, from chemical exposure to heavy handling environments. 

If you need supplier or workplace labels that meet regulatory standards and remain readable long-term, call us at 403-930-5543, email sales@industrialnameplates.ca, or contact us, and we can help you get it right.