The Pesticides Management Code
Protecting the environment and health in agricultural
Updating: October 2014
The Pesticides Management Code introduces
regulations controlling the storage, sale and use of pesticides. The
enactment of the Code is among the initiatives undertaken by the government
of Québec to reduce the health and environmental risks that these products
entail. As regards the agricultural sector, these regulations are designed
to ensure that farm producers use pesticides with all the necessary prudence
Pesticides are commonly used to combat pests, undesirable
plants and certain diseases, and they are most extensively used in the
agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of total pesticide
sales in Québec.
The use of pesticides in agricultural areas may cause water,
air and soil contamination and thus represents a risk to public health,
including the health of your family, friends and neighbours. Surface water
and groundwater sampling programs, undertaken by the Ministère
in regions characterized by intensive potato, corn and soybean cultivation,
have led to regular detection of pesticides in the wells and river water
Moreover, the results of a study of pesticide use in
apple orchards have revealed that when pesticides are applied, residues are
transported beyond the target areas to be discovered in the air and on the
soil of neighbouring land.
The Pesticides Management Code and you
These regulations affect the storage, preparation and application of
pesticides in agricultural areas. Permit and certificate holders targeted by
Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use
Permit and certificate holders from the agricultural sector who are
targeted by the pesticide regulations are as follows:
- holders of Class C “Remunerated Work,” and Class D “Non-Remunerated
- Subclasses C1 and D1 “Aerial Application;”
- Subclasses C6 and D6 “Application by Fumigation;”
- Subclasses C8 “Application on Cultivated Land;”
- Subclasses C10 and D10 “Application in Buildings for Horticultural
- holders of the following certificates:
- Class CD “Application of Pesticides,”
- Subclass CD1 “Aerial Application;”
- Subclass CD6 “Application by Fumigation;”
- Subclass CD8 “Application on Cultivated Land;”
- Subclass CD10 “Application in Buildings for Horticultural Purposes;”
- Class E “Farmer’s Certificate for the Application of Pesticides,”
subclasses E1, E1.1, E2, E3 and E5.
Pesticide classifications are established according to the Regulation
respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides.
They differ from the federal classifications.
|Pesticides for restricted use
||Classes 1 and 2
|Pesticides for commercial, agricultural or industrial
|Pesticides for domestic use
||Classes 4 and 5
- Class 1 to Class 4 pesticides must be stored in premises where the
ambient conditions are not likely to alter the product or its container,
and in such a manner that its contents are not released into the
environment. However, this requirement does not apply to a Class 4
pesticide stored for personal use or for another person free of charge
(e.g., an exchange of services).
- A sign indicating the list of certain services (e.g., the Centre
anti-poison du Québec) and their telephone numbers must be posted in a
conspicuous place near the entrance to the storage premises. However, this
requirement does not apply to a Class 4 pesticide stored for personal use
or for another person free of charge (e.g., an exchange of services).
- A person who stores Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 pesticides must have
on the premises adequate equipment and material capable of stopping any
leak or release of pesticides and, if required, of cleaning the premises.
In the event of a leak or release of pesticides, the person must
immediately take measures to stop the leak or release and clean the
- A person who stores Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 or Class 4 unprepared or
undiluted pesticides in quantities equal to or greater than 1,000 litres
or 1,000 kilograms must immediately notify
Urgence-Environnement in the
event of pesticide fire, and specify at that time the nature of the stored
pesticides and the approximate quantity stored on the premises.
- The storage of Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 pesticides within a flood
area that is mapped or identified in a development plan or a metropolitan
land use planning and development plan or in a municipal zoning by-law is
subject to the following conditions:
- Within a flood area having a flood recurrence interval of 0 to 20
It is prohibited to store pesticides in this area.
Within a flood area having a flood recurrence interval of 20 to 100
It is prohibited to store pesticides in this area, except under the
- the quantity of stored pesticides is less than 100 litres or 100
- the quantity of stored pesticides is equal to or greater than 100
litres or 100 kilograms and the storage time is less than 15
- the pesticides are stored higher than the highest level reached by
water in a 100-year interval flood.
- Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 unprepared or undiluted pesticides must
be stored in premises having a containment works. The same applies to any
person who stores a quantity equal to or greater than 100 litres or 100
kilograms of these pesticides for a period longer than 15 consecutive days,
particularly pesticides stored on application sites or close to buildings.
A containment works is a floor, platform or watertight basin built so as
to contain and allow for the complete recovery of any pesticide leak or
|Do you need civil liability
insurance for damage to the environment?
A civil liability insurance contract is required
under the Pesticides Management Code for premises with a
storage capacity greater than 10,000 litres or 10,000 kilograms for
Class 1 to Class 4 unprepared or undiluted pesticides. The contract
must include a provision under which the insurer undertakes to notify
the Ministère within 48 hours following the
revocation, cancellation, termination or modification of the insurance
Regulations governing pesticide preparation
- The preparation and application of any pesticide must be carried out
in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions appearing on the label.
Where the instructions and a provision of the Pesticides Management
Code are inconsistent, the more restrictive of the two applies.
- Adequate equipment and material must be available on premises where
pesticides are loaded or prepared capable of stopping any leak or release
of pesticides and, if required, of cleaning the premises. In the event of
such a leak or release, measures must immediately be taken to stop the
leak or release and clean the premises. The person loading or preparing
the pesticides must remain on site throughout the operations.
- The unloading of unprepared or undiluted
pesticides from a mobile tank or from the tank of equipment used for
pesticide application, with the exception of an aircraft, must be carried
out in a containment works.
|What is a tank or mobile tank?
The term “tank” is used here to designate a tank with a
capacity of 1,000 litres or more, permanently installed and used to
store Class 1 to Class 4 liquid pesticides.
The term “mobile tank” is used here to designate a tank with
a capacity of 1,000 litres or more that is used to store Class 1 to
Class 4 liquid pesticides, that can be attached to a truck, trailer or
semi-trailer and that can be moved. Mobile tanks are used, for example,
by pesticide distributors.
- The water supply system used in pesticide preparation must be designed
to prevent pesticide backflow to the water supply source (anti-backflow
- Equipment used for the application, loading or unloading of pesticides
must be in good working order and be adapted to the type of work to be
- A person applying pesticides must ensure that no person other than a
person participating in the application is present on the application
premises or is exposed to pesticides.
- Birdseed treated with an avicide and left for harmful birds must be
placed in a feeder equipped with a device preventing the wind from
carrying the seed away. The feeder must bear a sign providing specific
- A person who is to carry out a fumigation in a location where air is
confined (e.g., buildings, trailers, cattle cars, grain elevators, silos,
greenhouses, or under tarpaulins other than tarpaulins used on crops or on
soil in fields) must first ensure that no animals or humans remain in the
premises, to avoid their being exposed to the fumigant. Fumigation that
releases gas may be carried out only if all openings have been sealed. In
addition, the person must seal and post a sign on each entrance to the
premises to be treated, prohibiting access before the specified dates.
- The use of strychnine and DDT is prohibited.
Application by aircraft
Certain requirements apply to companies
offering services involving the application of pesticides by aircraft. A
person who intends to apply pesticides must, before any application,
identify the limits of the application areas at ground level, indicating
where applications are permitted and prohibited, unless a flight line
guidance system is to be used for such purposes. In addition, the pilot
or the person authorized to supervise the application from another
aircraft must have a map or aerial photograph at hand showing the areas
where pesticide applications are permitted and prohibited. The map or
aerial photograph must cover a 300-metre strip around the pesticide
Application distance requirements
In agricultural areas, application distances are prescribed for
watercourses, bodies of water and ditches for applications of pesticides on
the ground or by aircraft. These distances vary according to the dimensions
of the watercourse or ditch in question:
- watercourses or ditches where the total flow area (average width
multiplied by average height) is greater than 2 m2;
- watercourses or ditches where the total flow area is 2 m2
|NB: The application distances from watercourses
and ditches to be respected during ground applications of pesticides are
the same as those required under the Regulation respecting
In the case of aerial applications for agricultural purposes, a
watercourse does not include an intermittent watercourse, and the
application distances are greater for sections of a watercourse of more than
four metres in width.
The relative distance from a watercourse is measured from the normal high
water mark of the watercourse, and the relative distance from a ditch is
measured from its edgeline.
|The high water mark
An easy way to establish the high water mark is to determine
the place where there is a change from a predominance of aquatic
plants to a predominance of terrestrial plants. Thus the high water
mark corresponds to the place where nature itself has established this
point of balance between aquatic and terrestrial vegetation.
The following table summarise the mandatory minimum distances in
agricultural areas according to the premises where pesticide storage,
preparation and application (on the ground or by aircraft) activities are
NB: If you are planning to apply pesticides in a forest area (e.g., a
farm woodlot), please note that certain specific rules apply. For more
information on this subject, please check with
your regional office of the
Did you know that you require an authorization certificate from
the Ministère in order to use pesticides in any aquatic environment with an
With this regulatory requirement, the Ministère ensures that measures will be taken to minimize risks, among them the risk
of contamination occurring downstream from the pesticide application area.
|If someone close to you becomes
ill from pesticides
Guide the individual in question to a
well-ventilated area and ask him/her to lie down on his/her side.
Then contact the Centre anti-poison du Québec, at 1 800 463-5060
(toll free telephone emergency, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or in
the Québec City area (local call) at (418) 656-8090, and follow
their instructions to the letter. If the person’s condition appears
serious, go to the hospital immediately, making sure to bring the
label or the name and the registration number of the product in question.
The information provided in this document is in no way meant to replace
the full official text of the
Pesticides Management Code.
“Avoid pesticides … a natural thing to do.”